Finland Passes Controversial Law Blocking Asylum Seekers From Russia

Finland has upped its efforts at blocking migrants seeking to enter the European Union country from Russia. The neighboring countries share a lengthy 1,340 km north-south border which has been source of heightened tensions ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

On Friday Finland’s parliament passed a controversial bill which fully empowers border guards to turn away asylum seekers at the border. The new law was narrowly passed – approved by 167 Finnish lawmakers – which was the minimum needed for the 200-seat Finnish parliament.

Proponents have described the measure as a necessary reaction against Russia’s ‘hybrid warfare’. Officials have long accused Moscow of intentionally trying to flood the border with Middle East migrants.

“This is a strong message to Russia, a strong message to our allies, that Finland takes care of its own security, we take care of the security of the EU border,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Friday, describing further that it will stop as well as prevent future arrivals.

A regional Mideast news outlet has tallied that “More than 1,300 asylum seekers crossed from Russia since the middle of last year, but there had been no new arrivals since March until Thursday” and that they are largely from Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Somalia.

There have been some instances of young Russian men desiring to avoid military service seeking entry into Finland. Finland had shut the border last year as a result of the uptick in arrivals, and bolstered physical barriers. Many officials believe Russia ‘weaponized’ migrants as retaliation for Finland abandoning its historic neutrality in order to join NATO.

Soon after formally entering NATO in April 2023, fears grew that both sides would militarize the border, and that increased troop movements could result; however, these predictions have largely failed to materialize and the situation has remained mostly peaceful.

The new law does contain some exceptions – for example guards are not to turn away children and disabled asylum seekers. Amnesty International has meanwhile condemned the new bill…

Amnesty: The Finnish Emergency law should never have been passed. It calls into question Finland’s commitment to the rule of law. It also goes beyond all powers granted under EU law.
We expect the Commission to rigorously scrutinize its legality.https://t.co/KoXbTspNrO

— Frank Johansson (frankdj.bsky.social) (@FrankAmnesty) July 12, 2024

Belarus and Poland have been in the midst of a parallel controversy and crisis. Warsaw has for at least two years been bolstering its border while charging Minsk with facilitating the arrival of migrants from the Middle East. President Lukashenko has been accused of waging a hybrid war to bog down Polish troops and border guards at key crossings. Warsaw has also had to pour huge amounts of money into solving the crisis, while also building up a long border fence.