Helsinki: Finland on Friday passed a temporary bill that would allow agents to turn away asylum-seekers at its borders, an escalation in its ongoing dispute with Russia that experts and human rights groups warn will violate international law.
Relations between Finland and Russia, which share an 830-mile border, have sharply deteriorated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Late last year, Finland closed all land crossings with its neighbor, accusing Russia of trying to weaponize migration. Russian authorities have called the accusations “unsubstantiated.”
Parliament voted 167-31 to approve the bill, which would be in place for a year. Because it is an expedited constitutional amendment, it required more than the typical supermajority to pass.
The legislation gives authorities the power to halt the acceptance of asylum applications at the border for up to a month at a time— and to remove migrants who had made it into the country in hopes of seeking asylum. Forcing people back over a border, a practice known as “pushbacks,” is illegal under European and international law.
The text had been repeatedly amended since the government handed over a first draft in May that it acknowledged was not in line with Finland’s Constitution. Legal experts swiftly warned that the bill also would violate the country’s international obligations, and the UN refugee agency said it risked setting a dangerous precedent.
Worried about Finland’s human rights responsibilities, lawmakers negotiated heavily over the language, including the means for asylum-seekers to appeal and the role of parliament in applying the law.
Before its passage, the bill appeared to be largely supported by the Finnish public. About 65 per cent of Finns said they were in favor of the law, with just 19 per cent saying they were opposed, according to a survey commissioned by a prominent Finnish newspaper in late June.
Finnish officials have claimed Moscow is encouraging and helping an influx of migrants to cross the border, in hopes of stoking polarization within the country. More than 1,300 people have crossed the Finnish-Russian border to seek asylum since last summer, according to border authorities, largely coming from third countries in the Middle East and Africa. Russia, however, has denied deliberately shuttling migrants to the Finland border.