Finland's Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that it expects major changes in the EU's Dublin Regulation. The rule decrees that the first member state in which a refugee arrives is responsible for asylum claims.
The ministry notes that most asylum seekers entering Europe are travelling through Greece and Italy at present, and that the two countries have not registered all migrants, in defiance of the Dublin principle.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the European Commission plans to do away with the regulation and unveil a shake-up of refugee processing norms in March.
"A very great risk"
Interior Minister Petteri Orpo is against abandoning the Dublin system.
"I see it as extremely problematic," he told Yle. "There should at least be something comparable in its place. When it worked, it was a central element of Europe's freedom of movement."
About one-fifth of the asylum seekers arriving in Finland are returned to the countries where they were first registered.
Orpo agrees that changes must be made, as the system does not work at the moment.
"It doesn't work because in particular Greece's external border control doesn't work, and people coming into the Schengen area aren't being unregistered. This undermines the system. But a complete collapse of it would be a very great risk," says Orpo, a rising star of the conservative National Coalition Party.
Turkish pact crucial
Orpo urges the early adoption of a deal between Turkey and the EU to limit illegal immigration into Europe.
"When uncontrolled entry is brought into order, that will allow Dublin to work. I think that would definitely be in Finland's and Europe's interest," he asserts.
The minister points out that Finland has received Europe's fourth-largest number of asylum seekers per capita. He warns that unless the situation is resolved, the countries facing the largest numbers of migrants will begin to make selfish decisions.
"When the weather conditions on the Mediterranean improve, Europe will face renewed migration pressure. If the decisions that are made are not carried out in late winter and early spring, then the Dublin treaty and the Schengen agreement that guarantees free movement will be in extremely great danger," Orpo says.
