Finland to deport migrants arriving from Russia if refugee status denied

The Constitutional Committee of the Finnish Parliament has approved a bill that tightens the rules for obtaining refugee status and international protection for migrants arriving from Russia, Kommersant reports , citing the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

The law assumes that refugees who enter Finland via the border with Russia will be placed in special centres at or near the border until a decision on whether to grant asylum is made.

Those who are denied asylum are deported. The Finnish government has the right to restrict the acceptance of applications for international protection under the pretext of ensuring security and respecting the country's sovereignty.

The draft law was supported by 15 members of the constitutional committee, two spoke against it. At the same time, as Kommersant notes, the lawyers with whom the committee members held consultations were against the bill. They expressed concern that the bill could violate international human rights treaties, EU legislation and the Constitution of Finland.

Earlier, Finnish Prime Minister Peteri Orpo said that the adoption of the law on asylum seekers could lead to a partial opening of the borders with Russia. According to Orpo, thousands of people on the Russian side are waiting for the opportunity to cross the border.

In November 2023, Finland closed the four largest of the eight checkpoints on the border with Russia. At the same time, since the end of September, Finnish border guards have been denying entry to those trying to cross the checkpoint by bicycle.

In April this year, the Finnish Cabinet closed all border crossings "until further notice." Entry into Finland from Russia for tourism purposes, as well as for transit to European countries, is prohibited from September 2022.

The Finnish authorities cited the abnormally large flow of illegal migrants and asylum seekers arriving from Russia as the reason for closing the border crossings. And they were not talking about Russian citizens, but refugees from third countries, mainly from Africa and the Middle East.

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