Finland’s president addressing the issue of asylum seekers
Helsinki, Nov 20 (Reuters) – As Finland sees an increase in the number of asylum seekers entering its borders from Russia, President Sauli Niinisto has stated that it is becoming impossible to return those who do not meet the criteria for protection.
Over 500 asylum seekers from Yemen, Somalia, Syria, and Iraq have arrived in Finland in the past two weeks, prompting the country to shut half of its border crossings and accuse Russia of funneling migrants to its border. Moscow has denied these allegations.
Niinisto, in a state visit to Poland, called for an EU-wide solution to handle the uncontrollable entry to Europe’s passport-free Schengen area.
In response to the influx of migrants, Finland has announced that migrants entering from Russia can now only request asylum at two of the remaining four crossing points on their shared 1,340-km (830-mile) border.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the government would take further action if required, but declined to say whether it would close all remaining crossings on the border with Russia. The Finnish Border Guard confirmed that not all those who arrived had originally wanted to come to Finland but were forced to seek asylum after Russian authorities closed the border gates behind them.
The Kremlin stated that it had lodged a formal protest over the partial border closure, alleging that the decision reflected an anti-Russian stance. This move by Finland comes after Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia accused Belarus, a close ally of Russia, of artificially creating a migrant crisis on their borders in 2021.
Reporting by Essi Lehto in Helsinki; additional reporting by Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Gareth Jones
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