Hybrid Warfare or Hybrid Threat – The Weaponization of Migration as an Example of the Use of Lawfare – Case Study of Poland

• Authors: Piotr Łubiński

Abstracts

EN

This article aims to address the issue of alleged hybrid warfare attacks on Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. The scope of the article covers the Belarus operations conducted in 2021. Firstly, the author addresses the issue of pushing migrants from a descriptive perspective. Secondly, he debates whether Belarus operation was conducted within the scope of hybrid warfare, hybrid threat, and lawfare? The author concludes that the Republic of Belarus has operated lawfare falling within the hybrid threat spectrum. It means that the situation is not to be classified under the law of armed conflict from the perspective of international and non-international armed conflicts and ius ad bellum violation. Thirdly, the author claims that Belarus has violated international law, so certain legal redress is appropriate and justified. Belarus's actions may result in a court proceeding before the International Court of Justice and before other international institutions.

Keywords

EN

refugee; non-state actors; use of force; the migration crisis; law of armed conflict

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek
• Journal: Polish Political Science Yearbook
• Year: 2022
• Issue: 1(51)
• Pages: 43-55

Dates

published

2022

Contributors

author

Piotr Łubiński

• Pedagogical University of Kraków

• https://orcid.org/0000000260075683

References

• A renewed EU action plan against migrant smuggling (2021–2025) – COM(2021) 591. https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/renewed-eu-action-plan-against-migrant-smuggling-2021-2025-com-2021-591_en
• (2021, September 10). Is Belarus using migrants as part of a 'hybrid war' against the EU? Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/2021/08/11/is-belarus-using-migrants-as-part-of-a-hybrid-war-against-the-eu
• (2021, August 18). EU holds migrant talks, accuses Belarus of 'hybrid warfare'. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/alexander-lukashenko-lithuania-belarus-poland-brussels-b1904553.html
• Bachmann, O. (2021). Mass Migration as a Hybrid Threat? – A Legal Perspective. Polish Political Science Yearbook, 50(1).
• Bachmann, S. (2021). Is the Belarus migrant crisis a 'new type of war'? A conflict expert explains. https://theconversation.com/is-the-belarus-migrant-crisis-a-new-type-of-war-a-conflict-expert-explains-171739
• Bachmann, S., & Munoz, A.B. (2016). Lawfare in Hybrid Wars: The 21st Century Warfare. Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-00701008
• Balcaen, P., Du Bois, C., & Buts, C. (2021). A Game-theoretic Analysis of Hybrid Threats. Defence and Peace Economics. https://doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2021.1875289
• (2016, March 2). Migrant crisis: Russia and Syria' weaponising' migration. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35706238
• (2021, August 18). Lithuania says Belarus officers illegally pushed immigrants over border. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58255448
• Beck, A. (2014). China's strategy in the Arctic: a case of lawfare? The Polar Journal, 4(2), 306–318. DOI: 10.1080/2154896X.2014.954886
• Belarus Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the first anniversary of the 9 August 2020 fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/08/08/belarus-declaration-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-eu-on-the-first-anniversary-of-the-9-august-2020-fraudulent-presidential-elections-in-belarus/
• BI-SC Input for a New NATO Capstone Concept for The Military Contribution to Countering Hybrid Enclosure 1 to 1500/CPPCAM/ FCR/10-270038 and 5000 FXX/0100/TT-0651/SER: NU0040, dated 25 August 2010. https://www.act.nato.int/images/stories/events/2010/20100826_bi-sc_cht.pdf
• Clarke, M. (2019). China's Application of the 'Three Warfares' in the South China Sea and Xinjiang. Orbis, 63, 191.
• de Bendern, S. (2021, August 18). Belarus is new weapon in Putin's hybrid warfare arsenal. Chatham House. https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/08/belarus-new-weapon-putins-hybrid-warfare-arsenal
• Dunlap, C. (2001, November 29). Law and Military Interventions: Preserving Humanitarian Values in 21st Century Conflicts. Humanitarian Challenges in Military Intervention Conference Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Washington, D.C. https://people.duke.edu/~pfeaver/dunlap.pdf
• ECHR 244. (2021, August 25). The European Court of Human Rights indicates interim measures in the cases Amiri and Others v. Poland (application no. 42120/21) and Ahmed and Others v. Latvia. https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?library=ECHR&id=003-7100942-9612632&filename=Interim%20measures%20Poland-Latvia-Belarus%20border.pdf
• European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. (n.d.). Hybrid threats as a concept. https://www.hybridcoe.fi/hybrid-threats-as-a-phenomenon/
• Gallagher, A., & David, F. (2014). State Responsibility and Migrant Smuggling. In The International Law of Migrant Smuggling. Cambridge University Press.
• Gerdžiūnas, B. (n.d.). Baghdad to Lithuania: How Belarus opened new migration route to EU. Euroactiv. https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/baghdad-to-lithuania-how-belarus-opened-new-migration-route-to-eu/
• https://nsc.crawford.anu.edu.au/publication/14240/chinas-application-three-warfares-south-china-sea-and-xinjiang
• https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/ec-says-it-wont-let-illegal-migration-into-eu-24239
• Jonsson, O. (2019). The Russian Understanding of War: Blurring the Lines between War and Peace. Georgetown University Press.
• Kittrie, O. (2016). Lawfare: Law as a Weapon of War. Oxford University Press.
• Kowalczewska, K. (2014). Lawfare: inter arma... leges arma? International Humanitarian Law, Międzynarodowe Prawo Humanitarne, 5, 38–53.
• Laukagalis, M. (2021, July 27). Brussels will not fund Lithuania's border fence with Belarus. lt. https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1458242/brussels-will-not-fund-lithuania-s-border-fence-with-belarus
• Lee, S. (2014). China's 'Three Warfares': Origins, Applications, and Organizations. Journal of Strategic Studies, 37(2), 203. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2013.870071
• MCDC (n.d.). Countering Hybrid Warfare Project. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/647776/dar_mcdc_hybrid_warfare.pdf
• Monaghan, S. (2019). Countering Hybrid Warfare. PRISM, 8(2), https://www.jstor.org/stable/26803232
• O'Rourke-Potocki, H. (2016, January 25). Finland and Norway tangle with Russia over migrants. Politco. https://www.politico.eu/article/finland-and-norway-tangle-with-russia-over-migrants-refugees-asylum-organized-crime/
• Psara, M. (2021, July 11). Absolutely unacceptable': Belarus accused of using migrants in its fight with EU. Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/12/absolutely-unacceptable-belarus-accused-of-using-migrants-in-its-fight-with-eu
• Qiao, L., & Wang, X. (1999). Unrestricted Warfare. PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House. https://www.c4i.org/unrestricted.pdf
• Renz, B., & Smith, H. (Eds.) (n.d.). After hybrid warfare, what next? Understanding and responding to contemporary Russia. Prime Minister's Office/ Finland, Publications of the Government's analysis, assessment and research activities, vol. 44.
• Rettman, A. (2020, March 1). Russia is the real cause of the EU border crisis, US says. https://euobserver.com/migration/147695
• Scally, D. (2021, September 2). Poland declares state of emergency over Belarus' hybrid war'. Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/poland-declares-state-of-emergency-over-belarus-hybrid-war-1.4663419
• Schmitz, R. (2021, October 12). The EU accuses Belarus of luring global migrants into other European countries. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/12/1045345417/poland-belarus-lukashenko-eu-migrants-asylum?t=1634378762544
• Schoemaker, H. (2019, July 26). Allegations of Russian Weaponized Migration Against the EU with the Blackest Intention? Militaire Spectator. https://www.militairespectator.nl/thema/internationale-veiligheidspolitiek/artikel/allegations-russian-weaponized-migration-against-eu
• Szakacs, J., & Bognar, E. (2021, June). The impact of disinformation campaigns about migrants and minority groups in the EU. Policy Department for External Relations Directorate General for External Policies of the Union. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/plmrep/COMMITTEES/INGE/DV/2021/07-12/IDADisinformation_migrant_minorities_EN.pdf
• Tropin, Z. (2021). Lawfare as part of hybrid wars: The experience of Ukraine in conflict with the Russian Federation. Security and Defence Quarterly, 33(1). http://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/132025
• UK MOD–Written Evidence submitted to Defence Committee and Parliament. (2016, March 1). https://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/defence-committee/russia-implications-for-uk-defence-and-security/written/28854.pdf
• UN General Assembly. (1951, July 28). Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. United Nations, Treaty Series, 189. https://www.unhcr.org/4ca34be29.pdf
• UN General Assembly. (2000, November 15). Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12-b&chapter=18
• Weissmann, M. (2019). Hybrid Warfare and Hybrid Threats Today and Tomorrow: Towards an Analytical Framework. Journal on Baltic Security, 5(1), 17–26. https://sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/jobs-2019-0002

Identifiers

DOI

10.15804/ppsy202209

Biblioteka Nauki

2056862