Russia’s neighbor approves controversial ‘deportation bill’

Finland insists that the measure is intended to counter the “weaponization” of migrants by Moscow

Lawmakers in Finland approved a controversial bill on Friday that would allow the authorities to shut down the border of asylum seekers. The move comes after Helsinki accused Moscow of “weaponizing” migration.

The so-called “deportation bill” would give border officials the power to reject asylum applications under certain conditions. “We determinedly set out to find solutions and today parliament has approved the law with a clear majority,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said. He added that he hopes that the new law “never has to be used.”

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.” If adopted, “it could set a destabilizing precedent,” and “could be replicated by other states, including those with a less developed practice of upholding human rights,” O’Flaherty wrote.

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

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The Finnish government has insisted that the bill would help fight what it called Russian “hybrid influencing against our security.” Since 2022, Finland has been reporting a surge of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, who attempted to cross into the country through the land border with Russia. Helsinki has accused Moscow of funneling the migrants to the border crossings. Russia dismissed this claim as “unsubstantiated” and said that Finland has de facto suspended the cooperation between the neighbors’ border agencies.

Russia and Finland preserved good working relations during the Cold War and expanded ties after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The 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 that the move would only lead to further deterioration of security in Europe.