National Coalition Party Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government is drafting a new pushback law that permits Finland to subvert human rights, international law, and the rights enshrined in its constitution. Even if the law gets approval from parliament, it will not solve but worsen the problem at the Finnish-Russian border.
Considering that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen has a notorious record as an Islamophobe, expect the worst from Finland’s tightening of immigration and asylum policy. Why would you trust a person like Rantanen when it comes to migration unless you believe in fairy-tale solutions?
Even President Aleksander Stubb, who is supposed to speak for everyone in Finland, gave the thumbs up to sending back people at the Finnish-Russian border. Shameful exemplifying his moral fiber.
The actions of Stubb and the government tell us that during difficult times we will not respect our commitments. We’ll instead scapegoat the problem on Russia.
Apart from being a cowardly act, Internior Minister Rantanen and the government believes that passing a law in parliemant will magically cause the problem to go away. It will not solve any problems. On the contrary, the new law will bring death and terrible suffering as we have seen at a number of EU border crossings.
Apart from being legally liable, the suffering that we’ll see is that the Finnish border guards will have to live with themselves after sending people back. That was the case in Poland as shown eloquently in the Green Wall movie.
Wtires the Hollywood Reporter about the Green Border that could be a prelude to what will happen at the Finnish-Russian border:
“When they’re captured by the Polish border guards, Leila and the Syrians are herded together with terrified refugees from other countries and shipped back to Belarus, just the beginning of an increasingly brutal ordeal that sees them crossing the border several times. All are beaten by guards on both sides. Others in the party die by drowning in the marshes, or from exposure, shock, dehydration or starvation. In one of the film’s most shocking scenes — one with many correlations in current events — a pregnant African woman is literally thrown over the border, causing what looks like a miscarriage.”
It’s clear that state-sponsored violence and breaching international laws will not save Finland’s skin.
Opening the border and permitting people to apply for asylum in an orderly manner is one solution that will avert death and suffering.
And why are we so uptight about the Finnish-Russian border if tens of thousands of refugees have come to Finland since 2015?
Why are they different from those knocking at out door now?
