The European Union Council has said that it is concerned about the rights of migrants as the border crossing points between Finland and Russia continue to remain closed.
Following the temporary total closure of Finland’s eastern border with Russia, the Council’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, decided to address an official letter to the Minister of Interior of Finland, Mari Rantanen.
In the letter, Commissioner Mijatovic said that it is important that the EU Member States “react in a manner that fully aligns their human rights obligations,” even when they are dealing with challenging situations at their borders.
Commissioner Mijatovic further said that the country’s decision to close all of its border crossing points with Russia may notably impact the right to seek asylum.
Back in November, when Finland decided to no longer keep any border crossing points with Russia open, the authorities said that everyone would be affected by the decision, including migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.
The Finnish Ministry of Interior stressed that it would no longer be possible to file an application for international protection at the Finnish-Russian border.
The same highlighted that at the country’s internal borders, international protection applications will only be accepted at open border crossing points for air as well as maritime traffic.
As of 30 November 2023, it will no longer be possible to apply for international protection at the border crossing points on the land border between Finland and Russia. At Finland’s external borders, it will only be possible to apply for international protection at open border crossing points for air and maritime traffic.
In addition, the border closure means that asylum seekers are not able to file an application either.
For this reason, the Finnish Non-Discrimination Ombudsman has also raised concerns. According to Info Migrants, the ombudsman said that Finland’s decision to close all of its border crossings with Russia jeopardises the right to seek asylum.
Mijatovic has now required the Finnish government to provide information on the measures that the country has planned to take in order to ensure that everyone has the right to seek asylum.
Mijatovic also asked the government to share information on how the people who arrive at the country’s eastern border are being assisted now that the border is closed.
While concerns have been raised about migrants’ rights at the border, BBC said that migrants who have been found in Russia without visas are being recruited by the latter for the war in Ukraine.
The report further said that Russia is instrumentalising migrants by not deporting them and permitting them to stay in the country without the right documentation.
