Deportation stamp: where to complain?

The website team received a letter from a reader with a very interesting question: where one should file a complaint when suffering from discrepancies regarding visa issues within the Schengen zone?

Reader’s case

Sergey: "In May I was returning from the Czech Republic. I was going home to Minsk via Poland by coach. After crossing the Czech-Polish border we were stopped by a Polish border patrol. They entered the coach and collected passports for a check-up. They have not returned passports to two Belarusian citizens and myself and indicated we had problems with our visas. It turned out that quite recently Poland adopted a new law, which stated that the visa I had, green 61 D, did not allow me any more to cross the Polish border twice, once when I was going to the Czech Republic and the second time when I was returning home. My visa was valid to cross the Polish border only once, while going to Czech Republic. In order for me to return to the Czech Republic via Poland I would have to receive a transit visa in a Polish Consulate. Therefore we were detained by the border patrol for “unjustified presence on the territory of the Republic of Poland”.

Sergey, together with another guy and a girl had to spend one night in custody. In the morning a court rendered a decision to deport us from Poland to the Czech Republic and imposed an entry ban to Poland for three years. They were also fined with 50 US dollars. The three Belarusians were released. They lost their coach tickets and faced a field road and an issue of how to return to Prague.

Sergey: “Indeed, I understand that the actions of the Polish authorities were justified and that Poles acted in accordance with the law. However prior to the trip my friends and I were asking both Czech and Belarusian Consulates regarding whether our visas ensured our right to cross the Polish territory twice, bearing in mind the new legislation. We were told that there should not be an issue. We suffered from the situation however the worst consequence would be that all of us, most likely, would face problems with obtaining or extending our Schengen visas. Therefore I would like to find out where I could file a complaint regarding the actions of Polish, Czech and European diplomatic bodies”.

MFA: two opportunities

We addressed the Foreign Ministries regarding the issue raised by Sergey. We were told: the Poles acted in accordance with the rules, which was obvious. It would be hard to complain in this situation. One could try to file a complaint to the European Commission or the Court in Strasbourg.

European Commission: it is not exactly our competence

The following request we have sent to the Belarusian Representation Office of the European Commission. We received an answer that visa issues were not within the competence of the Representation Office. Issuing visas lied within the competence of the National Embassies of the Member States of the European Union. “Perhaps you should address your issues directly to the diplomatic representations of the countries where the mentioned above case took place”.

One has to bear in mind that the reply of the local Representation Office is a reply of the local office and not from the European Commission per se. Perhaps Sergey should inform about his case the Office in Brussels: Commission for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy.

The European Court on Human Rights, located in Strasbourg, accepts complaints from Belarusian citizens regarding all 46 countries, members of the Council of Europe.

Commentary of Garry Pahaniaila, Head of the Legal Commission of the “Belarusian Helsinki Committee”:

“In case the Polish side has not violated the Polish laws, it would be counter-productive to argue the case. Dura lex, sed lex. Indeed, when a law creates unpleasant situations for a large number of people, it is possible to address the Polish Deputies with a proposal to review their decision and to change the law.

“In what cases a Belarusian citizen has a right to appeal to the Strasbourg Court on Human Rights?”

“It concerns cases when the rights are being violated on the territory of a country, member of the Council of Europe. Obviously, Poland falls under the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg Court. However an appeal to the Court in Strasbourg should only be made after a Belarusian went through the Polish national judicial system and was not satisfied by its decisions”.

By Irina Osipava