Situation at the eastern border

On 16 July 2024, the President of the Republic approved the bill for the Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration. The aim of the act is to improve border security and ensure that Finland has effective means at its disposal to combat instrumentalised migration, which is being used to put pressure on Finland. The aim is also to prepare for more serious instances of instrumentalised migration.

So far, the Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration has not been applied in any situation. The act lays down the conditions under which Finland could decide to restrict the reception of applications for international protection in a limited area on Finland’s national border and in its immediate vicinity. If a decision was taken to apply the act, a person crossing the land border would not be able to apply for asylum (with certain exceptions).

The Government may make the decision to apply the Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration only if certain very strict conditions are met. Applying the act would always require knowledge or a justified suspicion that a foreign state is attempting to influence Finland by exploiting migrants in a way that poses a serious threat to Finland’s sovereignty and national security. The restriction must be essential for safeguarding Finland's national security, and it must be ensured that there are no other means to manage the situation.

The act entered into force on 22 July 2024 and will remain in force for one year. On 9 January 2025, the Finnish Ministry of the Interior set up a legislative project to extend the validity of the Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration.

Finland has used different languages and media to communicate to people travelling to Finland that the eastern border is closed. Communications have been especially targeted at asylum seekers' countries of origin. The purpose of the communications has been to ensure that people do not seek to travel to Finland and face the risk of exploitation on the journey. Communications can be resumed quickly if the situation so requires.

At Finland's external borders, it is possible to apply for international protection, or asylum in other words, at the border crossing points that are open for air and maritime traffic.

It is not possible to enter Finland via a border crossing point that is closed. For example, there may be physical barriers at the border crossing point. However, the needs and rights of particularly vulnerable people will be taken into account.

The Finnish Immigration Service examines the asylum applications. The circumstances of each asylum seeker are examined in accordance with the law. After this, the asylum seeker may be granted international protection or denied stay in the country.

Asylum in Finland | Finnish Immigration Service

Between August and December 2023, approximately 1,300 third-country nationals entered Finland illegally without a visa via the border crossing points at the eastern border. Since the closure of the border crossing points on the land border between Finland and Russia (as of 20.00 on 15 December 2023), there have only been a few illegal border crossings at these crossing points (January 2024).

The border crossing points on the land border between Finland and Russia are closed until further notice as of 15 December 2023. 

The people who have arrived in the country are third-country nationals and most of them have used Russia for short-term transit. They are of many different nationalities, including Syrian, Somali, Yemeni and Iraqi. Most of them have applied for asylum in Finland.

Based on information provided by the authorities, there are still migrants in the neighbouring area waiting for the eastern border to open. There are also more people in the migrants' countries of origin who wish to migrate to Finland.

Russia used instrumentalised migration against Finland in autumn 2023. Instrumentalisation of migration means that entry into the country is organised by another state. 
Based on information available to the Finnish authorities, the risk that instrumentalised migration will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely.

According to the Finnish authorities, it is clear that the Russian authorities have played a role in facilitating the entry into Finland of persons who have crossed the border illegally. The phenomenon also involves international crime, such as activity by smugglers and intermediaries.

Between August and December 2023, approximately 1,300 third-country nationals entered Finland illegally without a visa via the border crossing points at the eastern border. Since the border crossing points on the land border between Finland and Russia were closed (15 December 2023), only 41 people have crossed the border without authorisation and entered Finland from Russia, 33 of them in January 2024.