MSWiA proposes up to three years in prison for helping migrants stay illegally

The proposal

Deputy Interior Minister Czesław Mroczek put forward two key changes in his comments on a criminal code amendment drafted by the Justice Ministry, as Rzeczpospolita reported on 13 October 2026. The first concerns forgery, where producing a significant quantity of false documents would carry two to 12 years in prison, against three months to five years today. The ministry links this change to Border Guard cases involving document 'factories'. The second change, which has drawn the sharpest criticism, adds a new paragraph 1a to article 264a. Under it, anyone who knows that another person is staying in Poland against the rules and enables or facilitates that person's further stay would face up to three years in prison.

Current law and the ministry's case

Article 264a of the criminal code currently punishes with up to five years in prison anyone who, to gain a financial or personal benefit, enables or facilitates another person's stay in Poland against the rules. The government wants to widen that provision so it covers actions toward illegal migrants that are not linked to any such benefit. According to the ministry, the conduct is not penalised at present, which creates a loophole for people who, under the pretext of helping migrants, assist them in staying illegally and serve as a starting point for further illegal migration to Western Europe. The ministry says the amendment would make the fight against migrant smuggling more effective. The Justice Ministry draft, led by Waldemar Żurek, already proposes harsher penalties for smuggling migrants across the border.

Criticism and the Hajnówka acquittal

Lawyers quoted by Rzeczpospolita say they are outraged by the proposal. Radosław Baszuk, who defended activists acquitted by the Hajnówka District Court, argued that the rule would not stop smugglers.

This solution is not aimed at smugglers, but at activists and residents of border areas who provide humanitarian aid to foreigners who crossed the border illegally and are staying in Poland.

The case he referred to involved five activists, known as the 'Piątka z Hajnówki', who were charged under article 264a for giving humanitarian aid to migrants near the Polish-Belarusian border. In September 2025 the Hajnówka District Court acquitted them. The court found no evidence that the accused had obtained any financial or personal benefit, and held that the provision could not be read as referring to a benefit for the people who received help.

Status of the draft

Both changes are proposals made in comments on a draft, and the reporting gives no date for its submission to parliament. The forgery change is justified by the ministry with the caseload of the Border Guard. Rzeczpospolita published the details in its Tuesday edition. Both proposals remain at the comment stage.