Finland is constructing new fences and deploying more guard patrols, drones and electronic detectors along sections of its border with Russia in an attempt to close new migrant routes, news agency Reuters reported today (June 11) in an exclusive piece about Finnish attempts to shutter the border.

Finland's parliament is expected to pass new border control legislation before its summer recess.

In May, the Finnish government submitted a proposal to pass temporary measures to address what it referred to as "instrumentalized migration" --- or migration facilitated with the aim of destabilizing the northern European country and the EU --- from Russia.

On its government website, the proposed legislation is described as a means to improve border security and help Finland to counter migration tactics that it sees as threatening national security.

Additionally, the act is meant to prepare Finland for "more serious instances of instrumentalized migration."

The proposed legislation includes several provisions to control irregular entry into Finnish border.

One provision would give the government --- in a plenary session and with prior cooperation with Finland's president --- the authority to restrict the reception of asylum applications in specific border areas for up to a month at a time.

The legislation states that this measure can only be applied under highly exceptional and urgent circumstances and must be justified as necessary to protect against a serious threat to national security. 

Should the provision be instituted in a specific area, people who have already entered Finland irregularly would be removed and directed to locations where asylum applications are being accepted.

Border crossing points may remain open to other types of passenger traffic, depending on the circumstances, even if the reception of asylum applications is temporarily restricted, according to the legislation.

Read more: Migrants evade tight controls to cross Russian-Finnish border 

Additionally, as reported by Reuters, the new legislation will allow Finnish border guards to send migrants back into Russia without processing asylum applications, enlist thousands of reservists, detect migrants' phone signals and send migrants to detention centers.

The Finnish government defended the new measures as "essential to maintain national security and ensure Finland is adequately equipped to handle migration challenges orchestrated by external actors."

"Finland cannot just allow the opening of such a new route (for migrants) into Europe. But overall this is not about a migrant route: this is about a situation in which the authorities of another country are helping or even pressing and pushing migrants to Finland's border," Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, from the nationalist Finns Party, said in an interview with Reuters. 

This legislative proposal is part of a series of recent measures proposed by the Finnish government in response to an increase in the number of people crossing into Finland from Russia to seek asylum since last September. 

"Since autumn 2023, Finland has been faced with a situation of instrumentalization of migrants," a statement on the Finnish government's website reads. "This is one of Russia's means of attempting to influence Finland's national security and internal order."

Read more: Concerns raised over migrant rights at Finland-Russia border

International rights groups have criticized Finland’s latest move to control immigration, saying it curtails the rights of asylum seekers and migrants. 

"This law gravely undermines access to asylum and the protection from refoulement in Finland. It risks serving as a green light for violence and pushbacks at the border," Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty International’s European institutions office, said in a statement.

Closure of border with Russia 

In April, the Finnish government announced that its border with Russia will remain closed indefinitely. The decision came months after a series of border closures and re-openings. 

In addition to the land border closure, Finland also closed sea crossings on the island of Haapasaari, in the port of Nuijamaa and on the island of Santio to leisure boat and maritime activities.

The move was reported to come in anticipation of a potential increase in irregular war crossings brought by more favorable spring weather --- the Finnish government reportedly worried that an increase in sea crossings would strain maritime search and rescue operations. 

Finland, which shares more than 1,300 kilometers of border with Russia, began gradually closing the frontier crossings in November. 

Last year, the number of undocumented people trying to enter the country started to rise.

Between August and December, more than 1,300 migrants reportedly entered Finland from Russia.

Read more: Finland closes border crossings with Russia indefinitely