Finland Enacts Law to Turn Away Asylum Seekers at Russian Border Amid Migration Concerns

Finland’s law to turn away asylum seekers at its extensive eastern border with Russia has come into force. The Finnish Parliament approved the legislation earlier this month to prevent instrumentalized immigration. The deportation act allows for a temporary constitutional exception during a national emergency. Under this exception, border guards can block asylum seekers from entering the country and deprive them of the right to appeal. Finnish authorities have revealed that the act will be in effect for 12 months.

"This is a law that aims to oppose controlled migration. It is not a law on migration or asylum policy," stated Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen. The decision to pass this law came amid widespread accusations that Russia is attempting to “weaponize” migration at its eastern border with Finland by encouraging migrants from countries such as Syria and Somalia to cross the border.

While Finnish authorities have deemed the law necessary, some human rights organisations have criticised the move. They argue that the new law fails to address a fundamental issue in the east: the closure of all crossings along the 1,300 km Finnish-Russian border, which has been in place for over half a year and violates freedom of movement. The shortest route to Russia currently runs through Estonia for dual citizens or people with relatives on both sides of the border.

Finland has experienced a surge in asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa and attributes the influx to Moscow, which the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. In April 2023, Finland decided to indefinitely close its 1,340-kilometer border with Russia. Earlier in the autumn of 2023, when crossings were still open, over 1,300 people arrived in Finland within a dozen weeks. Most of these arrivals came from the Middle East and Africa, including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, and were primarily men aged 20–30. Finnish authorities estimate that some of these individuals could pose a security threat due to potential associations with extremist groups, militias, or organised human trafficking.

Media reports indicate that up to one in four people who arrived in Finland during that period and were placed in migrant centres later left the country, with many reaching other EU nations, mainly Germany. In 2021, Baltic countries such as Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia passed similar laws after Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko orchestrated a border crisis by drawing migrants from the Middle East and pushing them towards the EU in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Brussels.

By fLEXI tEAM