As of: March 28, 2024, 1:57 p.m
By: Florian Naumann
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Press
Split
Finland fears “instrumentalized” migration from Putin’s Russia. A law and legal pushbacks should help - the UNHCR is alarmed.
Helsiniki/Joensuu – Finland is keeping its border crossings with Russia closed – out of fear of a targeted influx of migrants. The government with the participation of the hard-right “True Finns” has now devised a law as a countermeasure: It should allow pushbacks; the blanket deportation near the border without examining asylum applications. Finland's new President Alexander Stubb defends the plans, while the UN refugee agency UNHCR criticizes them.
“Sometimes there are situations in which you are forced to take measures where safety comes first,” said Stubb, according to a report by broadcaster
YLE
. He visited the closed Finnish-Russian border in Niirala on Wednesday (March 28). The conservative practiced slogans of perseverance in rather bizarre words: Where one door closes, another opens, he explained. This may not have had any bearing on the situation of asylum seekers at the border.
Finland wants to legalize pushbacks on the border with Russia - expert sees country sinking to Putin's level
According to recent reports, the new law will only apply in the event of “threats to Finland’s sovereignty or national security” – and for a maximum of one month at a time by decision of the president or cabinet, as the broadcaster reported. There should only be exceptions in justified individual cases or when there are clear signs of impending death penalty, torture or violations of human dignity. The draft comes from the house of the “True Finns” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen.
International law experts had previously criticized the Finnish government's request. Not allowing asylum seekers to have their concerns examined violates several international agreements. The reference to “national security” does not allow for exceptions. Although pushbacks happen again and again at the EU's external borders, casting the procedure into law would be a new escalation.
Finland's police have already welcomed the move. The international law expert Elina Pirjatanniemi, however, saw Finland sinking into the same threshold as Russia with the planned law: “Pushing people back across the border without legal procedures means viewing these people as means rather than as people with human dignity,” she complained,
according to
YLE
in a written statement.
The regional department of the UN refugee agency UNHCR, together with Finland's Red Cross, the Refugee Council and the Finnish UN Association, also criticized the move. The institutions and associations warned of a breach of international and European law. “In the worst case scenario,” the approach could lead to a “humanitarian crisis,” they said on Wednesday (March 27). A dangerous precedent is also conceivable.
Asylum law as a relic of another time? Finland’s president wants to “move with the times”
Stubb, on the other hand, seemed to want to portray the current asylum law as a relic of a bygone era:
YLE
quoted him as saying that it comes from a time when migrants were not yet used as a hybrid means of pressure : “We have to move with the times. “If Russia exploits migrants and uses them as a weapon, we must have the tools to stop it.” The new law is an instrument that allows the border to be opened.
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“I believe that when one closes, a new door opens,” Stubb continued. “When the border is closed or barriers are built, new opportunities always open up.” This also applies to the consequences of the “current security policy situation,” added Finland's president, referring to the situation in eastern Finland.
There were also large-scale pushbacks as a result of the crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. The European Court of Human Rights is therefore dealing with several cases. However, it is still unclear whether Finland's new law will actually come into effect. A five-sevenths majority in parliament would probably be necessary – and with it the support of the opposition. The Fundamental Rights Committee is also expected to comment.
(fn)