Part I
An examination of the family’s medical documentation drawn up in German,
which – it should be noted – they were carrying when they were stopped by the
German police and during the Dublin transfer, revealed that their physical and
mental health not only was probably unsuitable for being transferred, but was
undoubtedly unsuitable for placement in a closed centre. The hospital release
document stated that the man had been hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic in
Eberswalde from 26 July 2016 to 27 August 2016 due to PTSD243 and an episode
of severe depression with suicidal thoughts – disorders that can be directly attributed to violence (including torture) he had suffered in his country of origin.
Article 88 and Article 88b(2) of the Act on Granting Protection to Aliens
on the Territory of the Republic of Poland 244, as well as Article 398(2) and
Article 401 of the A.o.A.,245 protect aliens from placement in detention if
they have suffered violence or if their health is poor, allowing the use of alternative measures to deprivation of liberty in a CDC. In this case, however,
the Chechen family was placed in a closed centre. The NMPT expert found
that this situation occurred due to the following reasons:
• The German side did not furnish appropriately secured and translated
(from German) information about the family’s health,
• The Polish Border Guard, upon receiving the aliens, failed to take the
German documentation into account,
• The doctor working the reception room in the clinic (Samodzielny Publiczny
ZOZ MSWiA) in Szczecin to which the aliens were transported on 5 October
2016, concluded after an examination and interview that they could be escorted and there were no counter-indications to holding them in detention,
• The court did not take into account the medical documentation in the
aliens’ possession, which would have provided grounds not to place them
in detention – instead, it merely agreed with the Border Guard’s recommendation to detain them.
It should also be emphasised that after the family had been placed in a CDC,
their German medical documentation was not checked by the doctor at the Centre. Thus, an opportunity was wasted to appeal the court’s decision to place the
aliens in a CDC within the legal time limit (7 days after placement). The medical
documentation drawn up by the Polish doctor did not mention the man’s diagnosis of PTSD, depression or suicide risk, which were the reason for his hospitalization in Germany. On the third day of their stay in the CDC, the patient and
The English acronym for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Dz. U. of 2016, item 1836, consolidated text.
245
consolidated text: Dz. U. of 2016, item 1990.
243
244
83
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