Border guards are ready

The eastern border barrier is expected to be fully completed by summer 2025. The initial cost estimate is 380 million euros. Peter Anicali

Border guards are preparing to implement new border laws within weeks.

On Tuesday, the President of the Republic Alexander Stubb The new border law was confirmed. It will come into force on July 22, 2024 and will be valid for one year.

– We are very aware of what this requires of us and we have created an operational model. Full readiness for implementation will be achieved when all personnel are trained, said the Border Guard Colonel. Miko Rhimes.

The border guards will start training personnel within the new legal framework this week. Lehmuth said the first group of border guards who have received basic training and training related to the Assessment Act will arrive at the border by the beginning of next week at the latest.

He stressed the importance of legally required training for assessors, which he estimated would take several weeks.

——Of course, the development of this phenomenon is also related to neighboring countries. This law brings us a new way to maintain border security under the most difficult circumstances. We believe that it effectively combats instrumental immigration and is necessary.

Operational Model

Lemus said the legally required structures and arrangements for supporting logistics will be fully ready within a few weeks.

He described the border guards as being prepared to carry out three different sets of tasks within the new legal framework.For the border guards, the new border law is a new tool in the toolbox, and Lehms said it strengthens border security, national security and the right of nations to self-determination.

– Preventing entry into the country through border arrangements (e.g. barrier installations).

In this case, the person will never reach Finland and therefore the Finnish authorities will not process his case.

– Another point related to the mode of operation is the protection against violent or forceful intrusion, and even in this case, against the entry of persons.

As a third fundamental question related to the operating model, Lehmuth raises the application of law in interactions near the border.

– If a person enters Finland for some reason, he will be assessed near the border and will also be immediately deported if the assessment does not reveal special circumstances that lead to an asylum request.

– Deportations are carried out in appropriate places: one of them can be a border crossing point, if someone crosses the border in a nearby area, he continued.

Special vulnerabilities

However, Lehheims stressed that the application of law enforcement is not the choice of border guards but the government. The Border Guard ensures that the legally required structures and supporting logistics arrangements are in place.

An important element of border force training is the identification of specific vulnerabilities.

– That is, how to recognize this particular vulnerability and whether a person would be in immediate danger to life and health by leaving the country, as provided for by the law.

The training also focused specifically on who is a child and how to identify them at the border.

– Within the scope of this exceptional law, it is not possible to achieve the same level of certainty on these issues as in the asylum procedure, but specifically to prevent the person from being exposed to an immediate risk of life and health as a result of being deported from the country.