Polish authorities on Monday reprimanded the German police for allegedly depositing a family of Afghan asylum seekers across the border without consulting the Polish side.
"The transfer of foreigners to Poland by the German police was carried out in violation of the principles of cooperation between the two services and against the transfer law," the border guard service wrote on X.
"The German authorities must not make such a decision arbitrarily," it said.
Citing eyewitnesses, Polish media reported that a German police car arrived in the village of Osinów Dolny near the border on Friday and left a migrant family there.
The German side said that under temporarily reintroduced internal border controls, officers stopped a family of five Afghans near the village of Altmädewitz early on June 14 after they tried to enter Germany without authorization.
The family had Polish asylum certificates for the adults and Polish documents for the children, but had not formulated an application for asylum with the German side, the statement said.
Under existing legalities, they should therefore be returned to Poland, it added.
According to the police, the Polish side was informed via the Joint Centre in Świecko, also by the border, that they wanted to hand over the family.
As there was "no response from the Polish side for several hours," the officers decided to drive the family to the border and release them to Poland from there.
On the way, the family's children complained of feeling unwell. The police patrol went to a pharmacy in Osinów Dolny to provide first aid.
The incident was "intensively followed up" with Polish colleagues, the German police said. The Polish side pledged to raise the matter at a higher level on Tuesday.