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299
POLAND
Costs
As stipulated by law, any expenses related to unlawful residence or overstaying of visa time
limits may be borne by the alien or the host who stands surety for the alien, the employer of illicit
workers, or the state. Costs include transport, escorting and administrative costs, and are to be
determined by the Voivod (Article 96 of the Aliens Act).
The estimated cost per capita of deportation transportation and the provision of escorts are not
available, however, the budget for deportation for 2004 is PLN 800,000 (EUR 170,000).
Prosecution and Detention
The Polish Border Guard is obliged by law to record in the alien’s travel document the cancellation
of a visa as well as any expiry of the decision on the obligation to leave the territory of
Poland (Article 20 of the Asylum Act). The Aliens Act further stipulates in Article 95 that the
authorities who issued the expulsion order shall immediately be informed of the departure of a
foreigner served an expulsion order, once the migrant has left Polish territory. Both legal
requirements are usually strictly enforced.
The decision on expulsion is recorded in the travel document of a deportee, and the Voivod will
also be notified of the decision.
Deported foreigners are placed on a list of persons whose stay in Poland is not wanted for a
period of five years.
Detention
If a foreigner cannot be expelled immediately, and there is just reason to fear that he/she might
avoid an expulsion order, he/she may be detained until the order can be enforced.
There is one “guarded centre”, some 60 kilometres south of Warsaw near the town of Lesznowola.
The detention centre has been established in the facilities of two former military barracks, and
can host some 200 people. The Ministry of Interior and Administration and the police supervise
the centre.
Families are accommodated together in the centre, while single men and women are segregated.
It has special facilities for mothers and children. In general, detention conditions in the guarded
centre are considered less strict than in the deportation jails.
There are about 25 deportation jails, either under the jurisdiction of the Voivod Police or the
Polish Border Guard. Most of them are located in the main buildings of the police stations of
each district.
The practice of detaining foreigners in the Lesznowola centre and deportation jails started in
mid-1995. According to the statistics of the Polish Police National Headquarters, 700 nonnationals
were hosted in the guarded centre in 1997, of whom 435 were expelled and 265
released after 90 days. Some 296 foreigners submitted asylum applications, while in detention.
In 1997, 574 foreigners were detained in the 24 deportation jails, of whom 253 were expelled
and 321 released after 90 days – 251 applied for refugee status from there. 10