Story by cpanella@businessinsider.com
As waves of asylum seekers surge toward Finland amid freezing temperatures, the country has decided to shut down its border with Russia.
The crisis that has been emerging, Finnish officials say, is one that was artificially created by Russia intentionally sending migrants to the Finnish border. It’s a cruel tactic analysts say Moscow previously employed against another nearby NATO country in partnership with Belarus.
In recent weeks, Finland has seen a spike in asylum seekers at points along its border with Russia, recording over 500 migrants — mostly from Yemen, Somalia, Syria, and Iraq — in a two-week period alone. The influx forced Finland to close multiple checkpoints on the southeastern part of its border with Russia on November 18. Finnish officials to blame Moscow for creating the crisis by directing migrants towards Finland.
Russia has denied the accusations, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov calling Finland’s closure of some of its borders “a big mistake.”
On Tuesday, Helsinki announced that it has decided to shut down all of its border with Russia until December 13, adding that migrants will not be able to submit asylum applications.
“Russia is enabling the instrumentalisation of people and guiding them to the Finnish border in harsh winter conditions. Finland is determined to put an end to this phenomenon,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said.
“In the current situation, it is necessary to close the entire eastern border. We have taken this decision to protect Finland’s national security against this Russian hybrid operation,” Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen added.
Finland’s response to what it says is malign Russian activity has been swift and vocal. NATO’s newest member has highlighted Moscow’s involvement, accusing Russian border guards of escorting migrants to the border themselves. Furthermore, photos and videos purportedly of migrants riding bikes provided by Russian authorities to the border have also surfaced online.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, DC-based think tank, “Russia’s apparent hybrid warfare tactic on the Russian-Finnish border is similar to Russia’s and Belarus’ creation of a migrant crisis on the Polish border in 2021 and is likely similarly aimed at destabilizing NATO.” At that time, Belarus sent thousands of migrants to Poland, flooding the border in an apparent act of retaliation against the European Union, which Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko threatened to “flood” with “drugs and migrants.”
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No matter the extent of Russia’s involvement in these situations, both instances put asylum seekers in harm’s way, using migrants as political tools with no regard for their lives or safety. After Belarus began sending migrants to its Polish border, Human Rights Watch accused Belarus of manufacturing the crisis and reported on violence and inhumane treatment of migrants by Belarusian authorities.