Finland’s far right ministers shed tears of joy last year as Parliament passed a law authorizing the pushback of asylum-seekers at the Russian border. Driven by the virulently anti-immigration Finns Party (a junior partner in Finland’s rightwing coalition), the measure is now inspiring copycat legislation across Europe, where pushbacks – the practice of forcibly returning people across a border without assessing their rights – have hitherto been illegal.
The first of its kind in Europe, Finland’s border security law allows guards to block asylum-seekers attempting to cross its 1,300km eastern border with Russia. The measure, initially introduced for one year in July 2024, followed a rise in asylum-seekers arriving at the eastern border. Helsinki attributed the spike to Russia’s ‘weaponizing’ of migrants in retaliation for its NATO membership.
