The government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo is anticipating with some dread the opening of the Finnish-Russian border on 14 January. In order to deny people the right to asylum, Orpo has gone as far as to suggest that asylum seekers should be sent directly back to Russia supposedly because it is a safe country.
Such a suggestion, denying people the right to asylum, has received strong criticism from international law professor Martti Koskenniemi.
Source: Yle
“I can only conclude that Orpo does not know what he is talking about,” Koskenniemi was quoted as saying in Yle. “Surely the prime minister is not proposing such a thing [like denying asylum with illegal pushbacks]. There is no need to use the English term. The proposal [by Orpo] is an excuse to breach international agreements.”
As Koskenniemi correctly asks, why haven’t politicians suggested any credible changes to international agreements on asylum?
The answer is a no-brainer: They don’t have any answers except for weakening human rights and trashing international agreements governing refugee and asylum rights.
Another important question that should concern us is what is the government’s new steps to further undermine human rights and civil rights? They are already doing this on a massive scale by weakening social, labor and migrant rights.
As far as Orpo’s government is concerned, its record on racism and human rights reveal an incompetence rarely seen in Finnish politics.
There only argument for breaching human rights is fear.
The only route of the government is to exit from power.