UPDATE
The very simplistic arguments used by the government to close the Finnish-Russian border suffered a short circuit in June when a Russian soldier belonging to the Wagner Group crossed the border and sought asylum from the Finnish authorities.
Watching the news Friday was like returning to the Cold War days and when Finland usually cared less for the human rights of those seeking asylum. It is also interesting to note that the Finnish media is using the same language as in the Cold War when speaking of the Russian asylum seeker.
Ahti Tolvanen, a member of the Migrant Tales board, said that the case of the Russian Wagner Group soldier raises a lot of questions. “There is a lot on this guy,” said Tolvanen. “I can’t tell if he is a refugee or war criminal. Wars tend to mix categories and create moral conflusion.”
He said that the case remined him of Amerian defectors coming to Canada during te Vietnam War. “There wa controversy about wht to do with them,” he added
“Why did it take so long for the authorities to make public the case?” he said. “Why is he called a ‘defector’ rather than ‘an asylum seeker?’ If seeking asylum is a universal human right, why are the Finnish authorities investigating the matter as ‘an illegal border crossing?'”
“Another question is why is the soldier being locked up if he is an asylum seeker?”
According to the pushback law, the reasoning was to stop Muslims from seeking asylum in Finland. What happens now when those seeking asylum are Russians?
Last year, there were some 600 cases of Russians still awaiting a decision on their asylum status from the Finnish authorities.
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