In the last weeks, numbers of new arrivals at the Finland-Russia border have spiked which has prompted allegations on the Finnish side of Russia ‘instrumentalising’ people on the move against the EU with hybrid warfare tactics. The EU has responded by pledging their support to Finland and sending operational support from Frontex. This is happening at a time when the EU are considering the Crisis Regulation of the New Pact on Migration, and the inclusion of ‘situations of instrumentalisation’ based on previous events in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece and Spain. Such a move would entail a proliferation of rights violations, and the suspension of the right to seek asylum in the EU in many cases. Read the statement for more.

This statement was written in collaboration with Stephen Philips, Project researcher at Mobile Futures, Åbo Akademi University, Institute for Human Rights (https://mobilefutures.fi/).