Finland enforces migrant push-back at Russian border, echoes Poland

- We protect, just as Poland does, our own nation and ensure national security - says General Pekka Toveri, former head of military intelligence, to Wirtualna Polska. This is how he justifies Finland's controversial decision to legalize the turning back of migrants at their border fence with Russia. In such cases, our border guards lose court cases.

Starting Monday, July 22, any foreigner who illegally crosses the barrier fence on the Finnish-Russian border will be turned back to the other side. Migrants caught at the border after crossing it will be sent back to the Russian side without the right to appeal. Their asylum applications will neither be accepted nor processed.

Foreigners will be informed where such an application can be legally filed. This way, Finland protects itself against a hybrid war at its border. Politicians and the president (who has already signed the law) call this law the "Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumental Migration."

This situation is quite different from what is happening at the Polish-Belarusian border. On July 18, the Border Guard reported 40 attempts to cross the border; on July 17, there were 30 attempts. At the same time (July 18), activists from humanitarian organizations operating at the border boasted about rescuing seven people from the forest (already on Polish territory). It was reported that "all seven were taken by the Border Guard to a facility where procedures regarding the submission of applications for international protection will be conducted."

It cannot be otherwise. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is sounding the alarm that foreigners complaining about being turned back to Belarus have already obtained ten national court rulings confirming that such a procedure is illegal.

Two foreigners who broke their legs while crossing the fence received favourable rulings. In both cases, the administrative court in Białystok stated that the Border Guard should have accepted their asylum applications. The guards ineffectively argued that the foreigners had obtained legal visas in Belarus and Russia. Instead of going through the green border, they could have gone to an active crossing where asylum applications are accepted, e.g., from Russians and Belarusians.

- I think we need a range of tools to fight this. We changed many national Border Guard laws. At the same time, we need to work with the European Union to change its own rules. New laws must be adopted to combat the use of refugees as weapons - comments General Pekka Toveri, former head of military intelligence, currently an MEP, to WP. Wirtualna Polska asked him for his opinion on why his country decided to tighten migration procedures.

- Our new law may be tested by the European Court of Human Rights, but we believe it will be positively received - he adds.

- All laws are a kind of preparation and will only be applied if necessary. Claims that Finland is violating human rights are unfounded. We protect, just as Poland does, our own nation, national security, and all of Europe - emphasizes General Toveri. He points out that the EU should build border infrastructure and use Frontex forces for operations. Finland is putting up a fence along its entire 808-mile border with Russia.

About 200 Finnish scientists and legal authorities protested against the Act on Combating Instrumental Migration. In the petition, they referred to the inhumane treatment of people. In June, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty appealed to Finland to reject the bill. In a letter to government representatives, he stated, "the European Court of Human Rights has made it clear that the challenges that states face in managing migration flows […] cannot justify practices inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Rights".

Supporters of the bill argued that it is clear that Russia facilitates and encourages migrants to cross the border into Finland. Since August 2023, increasing numbers of asylum seekers have begun arriving at Finnish border crossings with Russia. They travelled on bicycles, which they abandoned by the Finnish barrier. The military and border guard reservists were sent to the border, and all crossings with Russia were closed on November 22. Those who managed to cross the border later filed asylum applications.

"A few days ago, the Finnish parliament legalized push-backs by a majority of 5/6" - wrote Wojciech Konończuk, director of the Centre for Eastern Studies, on the X portal. He added that the Baltic states and Finland are fencing themselves off from Russia and Belarus. He published maps and a photo of the border fence.

The Group Border (which provides humanitarian aid to foreigners) is still complaining about Polish services' use of push-backs. They report that since December 13, over 9,000 people have already been subjected to deportations (the border guard calls this a return to the line of the border). They point out on social media that these are "Tusk's deportations."

On July 11, Grupa Granica activists announced that they had collected "testimonies and accounts proving that refugees are forced to sign documents renouncing their intention to apply for international protection" in Border Guard facilities. Then "they disappear without a trace, most likely their applications were not accepted." These foreigners are likely being turned back at the border.

- The Border Guard accepts appropriate applications only from individuals seeking international protection on Polish territory. A power of attorney signed by a foreigner, handed to them by activists, is not equivalent to an application for protection - responds Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz, press spokesperson for the Podlasie Border Guard Department.

- Applying for international protection is an individual decision for each foreigner. It often happens that a foreigner, despite earlier declarations of wanting to apply for international protection, after becoming familiar with the administrative procedure, withdraws from submitting such an application because they do not want to wait for it to be processed in Poland; rather, they want to get to another country of their choice in Western Europe - she explains.