Finland ・ Immigration

Finland approves controversial deportation law

19 July 2024

Finland's right-wing parliament approved a new controversial and potentially illegal deportation law last week. In essence, the aim of the emergency bill is to counteract Russia's "instrumentalised migration", which funnelled more than a thousand migrants across the 1,340-kilometre land border with Russia in 2023. 

The bill would allow border guards to turn asylum seekers away or remove them from the country. Unless the guards believe them to be underage, disabled, or otherwise exceptionally vulnerable, border guards can use the new law to remove people from the country – they can physically carry them over the border back into Russia. The bill also takes away asylum-seekers' right to appeal against border guards' decisions.

Given that the bill is an emergency measure, it is valid for a year and will not be applied immediately. Rather, both the president and parliament have to agree that an emergency threshold is met beforehand.


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