Finland’s government announced today its intention to introduce emergency legislation aimed at curbing the flow of asylum seekers entering the country through its border with Russia.
The proposal comes at a time of increased tension in relations between Finland and of Russiaas Finland moves forward with its application to join the NATO.
Finland closed its 1,340km border with Russia last year following a surge in migrant arrivals from countries such as Syria and Somalia, shortly following Helsinki joined NATO, which is backing Ukraine once morest a Russian invasion.
The Kremlin denies using migration as a weapon, accusing the West of engaging in a smear campaign.
Only a few dozen migrants have reached Finland via Russia this year following Helsinki closed border crossings, compared with 1,300 last year, according to data from the Finnish border guard.
However, Finnish politicians believe the emergency legislation is necessary as the temperature rises making travel easier.
“It is the government’s duty to take care of the security of the border, Finland and Finns in every situation,” Prime Minister Petri Orpo commented during a press conference.
“Unfortunately, European legislation does not yet offer us effective tools to deal with the problem. I hope our project will pave the way for solutions at the European level”, he added.
The bill tabled by the right-wing coalition government recognizes that deporting migrants without examining their asylum claims would violate Finland’s commitments under international humanitarian law. But Orpo noted that this would have a temporary effect and would be activated in extraordinary circumstances.
According to the protothema, Finland’s eastern border is the largest that the EU and NATO have with Russia. Helsinki wants the EU to allow exceptions to European immigration policy when migrants are deliberately sent to a member country with the aim of destabilizing its society.
The bill needs to be approved by five-sixths of the MPs in the Finnish parliament and the chances of that happening are slim.
Under this proposal, border authorities would be able to push back asylum seekers from Russia with or without the use of force. Exceptions are provided for children and the disabled.
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