Over 40 Human Rights groups warned Poland’s Premier Minister Donald Tusk against implementing his plan to temporarily suspend the right to claim asylum in an open letter on Monday. Among the groups are Amnesty International, several Asylum Law organizations and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.

The organizations stress that the fundamental right to asylum is binding to Poland under international law, as the country ratified the Geneva Convention, and under EU law which protects the right to asylum, provided by Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Additionally, Article 56 of the Polish Constitution enshrines the right to Asylum. Acknowledging that “we live in difficult times of war conflicts breaking out all over the world”, the group intends to make clear that fundamental rights, as the core values of Europe, are not subject to discussion or restriction.

The letter condemns the prime minister’s announcement to limit the right to asylum in response to migrants crossing the Polish border from Belarus. Tusk justifies this on X (formerly Twitter) as retaliation to Belarus and Russia’s mass transfers of migrants to EU countries, which he describes as an act of hybrid warfare to threaten Polish national security. According to Tusk, his proposal is inspired by a Finnish law earlier this year, which temporarily blocked asylum procedures for migrants entering from Russia. The measure would, however, not apply to refugees fleeing Ukraine.

A response by the European Commission was given by spokesperson Anitta Hipper on Monday, who reminded Poland of its obligations under International Law. She stated at a press conference that the commission would “stay in touch” with Poland over the measures. The commission refrained from pointing toward the recently adopted “New Pact on Migration and Asylum”,  which contains an explicit instrument for situations of instrumentalization and migratory pressure, the Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation. Tusk was quoted by Le Monde as stating “We are not going to respect or apply any European idea that… hinders our security. I’m thinking here of the EU migration pact.”

Poland’s proposal comes after the Netherlands and Hungary requested to opt out from EU asylum regulations under the New Pact, and Germany introduced temporary Border controls to limit irregular migration, which Tusk had criticized as a breach of EU law.