Tomek, a lawyer with the Ocalenie Foundation, met Mohamed from Sudan in April 2022. Mohamed recounted that he had already been pushed back twice by Polish services to Belarus. He was afraid and hid in the forest. People from the Ocalenie team provided him with food, warm clothes, a tent, water, and bandaged his injured feet for several days.
Tomek explained to Mohamed what legal situation he was in and what might await him if he decided to apply for protection in Poland. He interviewed the client and passed the information on to Michal, another of our lawyers in the Warsaw office. Michal managed to obtain for Mohamed a so-called interim, or temporary measure, from the European Court of Human Rights, which prohibited Poland from deporting Mohamed for several weeks.
Tomek then entered the closed zone, which was in force at the time, and spent 12 hours at the border guard post, accompanying Mohamed to apply for international protection. He listened to a long story about the violence Mohamed had suffered in his country of origin and his difficult journey to Europe.
People with experience of violence and trauma should not be locked up in guarded detention centers for foreigners. Nevertheless, the border guards petitioned the Sokolka District Court to have Mohamed placed in one. The court, as usual in such cases, granted the request and our client was placed in a center in Przemyśl. Mohamed tells terrible things about his stay in Przemyśl. For the duration of Mohamed’s stay in the center, our attorney Jonasz tried to win his release. However, none of the complaints we sent him were successful.
While he was in the closed center, there was a remote interview with the person in charge of Mohamed’s refugee procedure at the Office for Foreigners. Tomek participated in it as a proxy. They spent six hours together at the hearing.
Throughout his stay in the guarded center in Przemyśl, Mohamed remained in contact with us. Our colleague Agnieszka, who works in the team responsible for in-kind assistance, sent him parcels of clothes, cosmetics. In total, Mohamed spent six months in detention.
When Mohamed was finally released from the guarded center, we paid for his first night’s stay outside, and transportation to an open center in Biała Podlaska. Soon after, Mohamed moved to Warsaw, found a job, which he has been doing ever since.
In September 2023 came the decision: Mohamed was granted subsidiary protection. He can stay in Poland and focus on rebuilding his life. He will be assisted in his integration in Poland by a mentor from our Warsaw Help Center for Foreigners, Amina.
Mohamed’s story is one of many examples of how we provide long-term and comprehensive support to people who turn to us for help. We had 4 teams (border, legal, in-kind assistance and mentoring) working with Mohamed at various stages – at least 8 people in total.