The government unveiled its proposed deportation law on Tuesday.
The bill is a reaction to Russia's instrumentalised migration, as the proposal aims to prevent people attempting to cross the eastern border from seeking asylum.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) said the bill was necessary as other measures were not sufficient to counteract the influence of a foreign state on Finland.
Under the proposal, the government could, under certain conditions, decide to limit the reception of asylum applications on its border.
A person who has already arrived in Finland would be removed from the country and directed to a location accepting applications for international protection.
The law, however, includes exceptions.
"Exceptions would apply to certain individuals who are particularly vulnerable or who would be at real risk of facing the death penalty, torture or other degrading treatment in the state from which they have come to Finland," said Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns).
According to Rantanen, this assessment would be made by the border authorities — or not — depending on whether violence or a large number of people were involved in the situation.
Sanna Palo, who heads legal matters for the Border Guard at the Interior Ministry, said the proposal neither contradicts the Finnish constitution nor the country's international obligations.
To be enacted, the proposal must gain the support of five-sixths of Parliament. If approved, the law would be in force for a year.
The proposal has been rushed through due to the arrival of spring, with the government anticipating the possibility of a large number of asylum seekers coming across the eastern border during the warmer months.
"The threat of instrumentalised migration on Finland's eastern border, which began in the autumn of 2023, remains high," the government said in a press release.
Experts have meanwhile suggested that Moscow may have stopped funnelling migrants to the Finnish border for the time being.
All checkpoints on Finland's eastern border remain indefinitely closed.
Yle News' All Points North podcast explored some of the human, political and legal aspects surrounding the eastern border closure at the end of last year.
Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
