Does Poland allow border guards to shoot at migrants? Here’s what the law says

In mid-2026, social media users claimed that Poland had passed legislation allowing its border patrol guards to shoot at migrants.

The story spread on X and Facebook, with several people sharing a screenshot of a news article featuring the headline, “Poland passes bill allowing border guards to fire at illegal migrants.”

Neither the social media posts nor the screenshot mention the date the article was published, nor when Poland allegedly passed such a law. Therefore, some commenters appeared to believe the legislation is new.

(Facebook user “David J. Harris Jr.”)

In short, Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese TV news media outlet, published the article in August 2024, not recently, as the posts imply. That year, Poland passed amendments to an existing law, allowing border security to use firearms in specific situations. The amendments do not state that border officers can attack migrants, though human rights groups argue the language gives undue license to border security forces. As such, we rate this claim as a mixture of true and false information.

On Aug. 14, 2024, Poland’s then-President Andrzej Duda signed a bill into law that widened the range of circumstances in which border security guards could use firearms against people at the border. The legislation limits criminal liability for border guard officers who break rules on using force or firearms in certain circumstances. Translated to English, the law states (Page 3, Article 6, Section 2) (emphasis ours):

A police officer, a Border Guard officer, or a Military Gendarmerie soldier does not commit a crime if, in connection with the performance of official duties or tasks, they use or employ measures of direct coercion or firearms in violation of the rules governing their use or employment, in the event of a direct and unlawful attack on the inviolability of the state border.

That exclusion applies only in specified urgent circumstances, including when an officer is defending someone’s life, health or liberty or confronting certain armed or otherwise dangerous individuals, and when the circumstances require immediate action (bottom of Page 3 to top of Page 4).

Under the previous law (Page 15, Article 45, Section 1, Subsection D), officers could already use firearms against someone forcing a border crossing with a vehicle, firearm or other dangerous object. The 2024 amendment expanded those circumstances. The bold section shows what the amendment added. It states (Page 4, Section 7) that firearms may be used when necessary to repel a direct and unlawful attack on:

… the inviolability of the state border by a person who forces the crossing of the state border using a vehicle, firearm or other dangerous object, or who acts in another manner directly threatening the life, health or freedom of the authorized person or another person, or who acts with another person who uses such a weapon, object or method …

The law does not, however, state that firearms may be used just because someone is a migrant or attempts to cross the border without authorization.

Human rights nonprofit organization Amnesty International criticized the then-proposed changes in July 2024, warning that the rules were too broad, vaguely worded and could lead to abuses.

Separately, in June 2024, the Polish government imposed a “temporary border exclusion zone” which required journalists and non-governmental organizations to request passes to enter the area, thus restricting oversight of border security forces. The zone has been repeatedly extended and remains in force as of October 2026.

The government proposed the in-question legislation as tensions grew at the Belarusian border, shortly after a migrant fatally stabbed Polish soldier Mateusz Sitek and authorities detained soldiers who fired warning shots at the border. Poland’s parliament then overwhelmingly approved the amendments. 

For further reading, Snopes has previously reported on claims involving migrants in Europe and along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Snopes reporting fellow Aleksandra Wrona contributed to the translations in this report. 

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