The prospect of the convergence of thousands of migrants on the Polish-Belarusian border has led many Finns to wonder how the country would react if a large number of asylum seekers arrived at the Finnish border.
MPs from the Coalition Party and the Basic Finns have urgently called on the government to make changes to the legislation that will make it possible to suspend the receipt of asylum applications. However, such activities are unlikely without violating the numerous international agreements to which Finland is a party.
Mikko LehmusThe director of the Border Guard’s risk analysis unit told Yle about the matter "closing borders" is not a Finnish legal concept.
He stated that Finland can close border crossings, which essentially means blocking traffic through booms and preventing people from moving through checkpoints.
Lehmus also pointed out that building a fence on Finland’s external border would be unrealistic from a cost point of view.
"Building a fence in Southeast Estonia costs 500-1000 euros per meter. Finland has about 1,300 kilometers of border." He said and pointed out that no migrants involved in the hybrid operation in Belarus had entered Finland via the eastern border.
A few dozen people who arrived in Finland via Belarus have arrived from other EU countries. Of these, 20 have applied for asylum in Finland.
Lehmus stated that border authorities are always obliged to accept asylum applications and that persons may stay in Finland until their case is completed.
Professor of International Law Martti Koskenniemi added that Finland cannot deviate from international agreements on humanitarian protection, even if thousands of migrants arrive at Finland’s borders.
This means that Finland cannot reject migrants who have entered Finland’s borders if they justify applying for asylum. The professor at the University of Helsinki also stated that preventing asylum seekers from submitting applications in Finland can be seen as a violation of European human rights treaties regarding inhuman treatment.
According to Koskenniemi, Finland cannot invoke the defense of its own sovereignty as a reason for disregarding international agreements.
However, he said it could be possible to legally derogate from certain agreements in an emergency. The criteria for an emergency are subject to interpretation, according to Koskenniemi, he stated that the arrival of a few hundred or thousands of migrants at the border does not meet the criteria.
"Violation of treaties or international law is serious. It entitles other states to retaliate. Above all, it sets a precedent that other states can use in the future against the offending state," he said.