Russia’s neighbor approves controversial ‘deportation bill’

13.07.2024 17:26

Photo: Getty Images / Jakob Johannsen/Anadolu Agency

Lawmakers in Finland approved a controversial bill on Friday, which allows border guards to turn away asylum seekers.

The law “on temporary measures to combat instrumentalized migration” comes after the Helsinki closed all crossings along the country's 1,340-km border with Russia late last year, accusing Moscow of “weaponizing” migration.

Helsinki has accused Moscow of funneling the migrants to the border crossings. Russia has dismissed the claim as “unsubstantiated” and said Finland has de facto suspended cooperation between the neighbors’ border agencies.

The Finnish government has insisted that the measure will help fight what it called Russian “hybrid influence against our security.” Since 2022, Finland reported a surge of migrants – from countries including Somalia and Syria – who attempted to enter the country via the land border with Russia.

“We set out to find solutions and today parliament has approved the law with a clear majority,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said, adding that he hopes the new law “never has to be used.”

The EU commissioner for human rights, Michael O’Flaherty, sent a letter to Finnish lawmakers, urging them not to pass the bill because “the proposed law raises a number of significant human rights concerns.” He wrote that “it could set a destabilizing precedent,” and “be replicated by other states, including those with a less developed practice of upholding human rights.”

More than 200 university researchers from Finland and abroad signed a petition calling for lawmakers to reject the bill, national broadcaster Yle reported.

Russia and Finland preserved good working relations during the Cold War and expanded ties after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Relations deteriorated significantly in 2022 when Finland backed Ukraine and began supplying Kiev with weapons. The Nordic state abandoned its decades-old policy of non-alignment and joined NATO last year. Russia said the move would only lead to further deterioration of security in Europe.