Finland enacts strict new border law targeting orchestrated migration

In Finland, a special law suspending the temporary acceptance of asylum applications at the eastern border has come into effect. Additionally, migrants who manage to cross into Finnish territory through Russia will be deported.

- This is a law aimed at countering orchestrated migration. It is not a migration or asylum policy law - emphasized Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen, in a program on Yle television. The minister represents the national-conservative "Finns" party (PS), known for their anti-immigration rhetoric over the years.

"This is a border law reform we have been seeking for years" - the party communicated on social media.

Throughout the legislative process, the law has sparked, and continues to spark, a lot of controversy. To pass it in parliament, as required by the constitutional committee, a special 5/6 majority was needed.

Pushing through this law means that we are pioneers in Europe when it comes to border security - insisted Minister Rantanen.

The leader of the Left Alliance (VAS), Li Andersson, who will soon be sitting in the European Parliament, stated that the passage of the law is "a dark day for Finnish rule of law and human rights."

Opposition to the introduction of the law came not only from left-wing groups but also from many lawyers, who maintain that the law will not be practically implemented by border services due to conflicts with international agreements.

According to critics, the law does not solve the fundamental problem in the east, which is the closure (for more than half a year) of all crossings on the entire 1,300 km Finnish-Russian border. This decision allegedly violates freedom of movement. For dual citizens or those with relatives on both sides of the border, the shortest route to Russia currently goes through Estonia.

The border will be opened when the border services deem it possible. For now, there are no grounds for this - admitted the minister.

According to Col. Mikko Lehmus, head of the border guard's intelligence department, "the threat of instrumentalized migration remains high, essentially unchanged since November of last year (when the government decided to close the crossings)."

- It is unlikely that the entire border will be opened - he declared.

In mid-July, the border guard reported that in the Kainuu region at the foot of Lapland, one person who had illegally crossed the border in the area was detained. This is the first such case this year.

Earlier in the fall of 2023, when a mass influx of migrants from across the eastern border began, and the crossings were open, over 1,300 people arrived in Finland over several weeks. These were mostly young men aged 20-30, but also women and children, primarily from Middle Eastern and African countries. According to Finnish authorities, among the arrivals could be individuals who pose a threat to the country's security, including those associated with extremist groups, armed groups, or those who might participate in organized human smuggling.

According to media reports, even one in four people who arrived in Finland at that time and ended up in migrant centres left them. Some of them made their way to other EU countries, mainly Germany.

The law that came into effect on Monday does not give border guards new powers, such as the use of force or coercive measures. Currently - as reported by border command - officers are being trained on how to apply exceptions provided in the law, such as granting international protection to vulnerable people, including children. It also does not explicitly mention the practice of "push-back," or pushing migrants back from where they came. Its applicability is foreseen for a period of 12 months.