HELSINKI: Finland’s right-wing government has asked parliament to extend until the end of 2026 a law that allows it to reject asylum applications from migrants crossing its closed eastern border with Russia and to send them back, it said on Thursday.
NATO member Finland has accused Russia of weaponizing migration by encouraging migrants from third countries to cross their shared border, an assertion the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.
“The threat of instrumentalized migration at Finland’s eastern border remains high and unpredictable,” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said in a statement, adding the situation at the border was tense but stable.
While Finland’s non-discrimination ombudsman says the law is at odds with international human rights commitments and EU asylum rules, the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has said it must be extended to prevent possible future arrivals.
The exceptional emergency law, initially approved for a year in July 2024, was part of the government’s response to more than 1,300 migrants from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen entering Finland from Russia in 2023. That phenomenon also prompted Finland to close the border with Russia.
The flow of migrants stopped after Finland closed down all official border crossing points at the end of 2023, and in 2024 only eight people crossed the border illegally after January, interior ministry data showed.
The government needs the support of three quarters of lawmakers in the 200-strong parliament to secure an extension of the law, a high bar reflecting the fundamental principles at stake.
The independent senior official charged with overseeing the legality of government actions said this month that the proposal to extend the asylum ban had insufficient reasoning, emphasising that emergency legislation must only be temporary in nature.
The official, known as the chancellor of justice, also said the threat assessment regarding migrants was insufficient and urged the government to explore alternatives.
The current emergency legislation expires on July 21.
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Finnish government seeks to extend ban on migrants seeking asylum on Russia border
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Finnish government seeks to extend ban on migrants seeking asylum on Russia border
- “The threat of instrumentalized migration at Finland’s eastern border remains high and unpredictable,” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said
- The exceptional emergency law was part of the government’s response to more than 1,300 migrants from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen
Emails to Chinese dancers allegedly threatened Australian PM
SYDNEY: A security scare at the Australian prime minister’s residence this week was sparked by a bomb threat against an anti-Beijing Chinese dance troupe, the act’s hosts said Friday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate his official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, on Tuesday over an unspecified “alleged security incident.”
Police said at the time that they found nothing suspicious in their search and declared there was no threat to the public, without saying what sparked the incident.
“We made the report to the national security agencies, including police,” Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia and host to the Shen Yun dance group, told AFP.
“We have to take it seriously.”
An email threat was sent two days earlier seeking to stop a performance in Australia by the New York-based dance group which is linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa.
A copy of the Chinese-language email provided to AFP said “large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives” had been placed in the prime minister’s residence.
“If the Shen Yun performance proceeds anyway, the prime minister’s residence will be blown into bloody ruins,” the email warned.
Zhao accused China’s Communist Party of seeking to stop performances by Shen Yun internationally, including by sending threats.
China banned Falun Gong, which it calls an “evil cult,” in 1999 after 10,000 members peacefully demonstrated outside a government building in Beijing.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters this week that it was not aware of the facts behind the security incident.
“China has always opposed various acts of violence,” the spokesperson said.
“It must be pointed out that the so-called Shen Yun performances are not any kind of normal cultural activity, but is a political tool used by the Falun Gong organization to spread cult information and accumulate wealth.”
Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in China, according to a January 2024 European Parliament resolution.
Despite being banned in China, it has found a global audience with Shen Yun performances around the world generating revenues of $46 million in 2022 alone, according to the ProPublica investigative news site.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate his official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, on Tuesday over an unspecified “alleged security incident.”
Police said at the time that they found nothing suspicious in their search and declared there was no threat to the public, without saying what sparked the incident.
“We made the report to the national security agencies, including police,” Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia and host to the Shen Yun dance group, told AFP.
“We have to take it seriously.”
An email threat was sent two days earlier seeking to stop a performance in Australia by the New York-based dance group which is linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa.
A copy of the Chinese-language email provided to AFP said “large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives” had been placed in the prime minister’s residence.
“If the Shen Yun performance proceeds anyway, the prime minister’s residence will be blown into bloody ruins,” the email warned.
Zhao accused China’s Communist Party of seeking to stop performances by Shen Yun internationally, including by sending threats.
China banned Falun Gong, which it calls an “evil cult,” in 1999 after 10,000 members peacefully demonstrated outside a government building in Beijing.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters this week that it was not aware of the facts behind the security incident.
“China has always opposed various acts of violence,” the spokesperson said.
“It must be pointed out that the so-called Shen Yun performances are not any kind of normal cultural activity, but is a political tool used by the Falun Gong organization to spread cult information and accumulate wealth.”
Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in China, according to a January 2024 European Parliament resolution.
Despite being banned in China, it has found a global audience with Shen Yun performances around the world generating revenues of $46 million in 2022 alone, according to the ProPublica investigative news site.
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