WARSAW, Poland: With Poland partially suspending the right to seek asylum last year, Afghan migrants are facing a life of fear and uncertainty – forced deportation and certain death at the hands of the Taliban-run government back home.

Authorities are now overusing the rule introduced in March 2025, rights groups say. It stems from a change in Polish law that allows temporary restrictions on the right to seek asylum at the Belarus border for people who entered Poland illegally.

An Afghan man in his 20s, who is being held in a migrant detention center in eastern Poland, said on the phone, "I tried more than a billion times to seek safety."

He said the Taliban killed his father and also detained and beat him. His family is still hiding in Afghanistan. He spoke anonymously to The Associated Press because he fears being deported. He said he told Polish authorities everything, "but they did not care".

Poland's Interior Ministry did not reply to questions about deportations of Afghans or how the rule is being used.

Like many Afghans, the young man entered Poland through Belarus and later reached Germany. He was arrested there and sent back to Poland under EU rules so his asylum request could be handled.

He says Polish authorities now plan to deport him without properly reviewing his case, just because he first entered through Belarus. Poland has been trying to stop this route after many migrants used it in recent years.

Poland says it is under pressure from large numbers of migrants and claims that Russia and Belarus are sending them to create problems in Western countries.

The law says the suspension of asylum rights at the Belarus border should last 60 days, but the government has extended it several times, so it has lasted for more than a year.

Legal experts, including Poland's human rights watchdog and the UN refugee agency, have criticized this move. They say it violates international law, particularly the Geneva Conventions, which require countries to review each asylum claim individually.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said the measures are needed for security at the Belarus border. The EU has not rejected this argument, but its rules still require countries to give basic rights to asylum seekers, even during migration crises.

Rights groups and migrants say Poland is now applying the rule more widely, not just at the border but across the country, to anyone who entered via Belarus.

In practice, this means many Afghan migrants cannot apply for asylum, no matter their situation.

The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Michael O'Flaherty, said in a letter that asylum requests seem to be blocked whenever border guards believe someone crossed from Belarus illegally. He also raised concerns about Afghans being deported without being allowed to apply for asylum.

Even Frontex, the EU's border agency, has shown concern. Its monitors withdrew from a deportation flight last year after learning that asylum claims had not been properly checked.

A Frontex spokesperson said it is important that anyone being sent back has gone through the full asylum process as required by EU law.

Data from the EU asylum agency shows that about 65 percent of Afghan asylum seekers in Europe are granted protection, meaning many of their claims are accepted in other EU countries.