Finland closes border crossings with Russia
They come from Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Turkey: migrants who arrive via Russia and apply for asylum in Finland. They don't have the necessary entry documents with them, but they usually have bicycles.
According to Finnish figures, their numbers have risen sharply in recent times. The Finnish Border Guard registered 75 asylum seekers in south-eastern Finland on Wednesday alone. That was more than in the entire previous week. Finland is now closing border crossings to Russia - and sees this as a form of self-defense.
Reports from refugees
The Finnish government accuses Russia of allowing people to travel to Finland despite their lack of documents, unlike in the past. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo criticized on Tuesday that Russian border guards had even brought people to the border. President Sauli Niinistö said that he had previously pointed out that Finland had to reckon with Russia's so-called malice because of its accession to NATO.
Asylum seekers confirmed Orpo's accusations. The Russian police had asked him if he wanted to come to Finland and offered to help him, an asylum seeker told the Finnish news agency STT. He did not dare to tell the truth at first. "We were afraid," said the man, who only gave his first name Can.
He had flown to St. Petersburg from Turkey with a friend because a visa could be obtained quickly. A Russian army vehicle had taken him to a kind of police station between Vyborg and the Finnish border. There he was instructed to take a cab.
Can said that this was no ordinary cab, but one that also transported bicycles. They then had to buy them. The driver took them to just before the border and shouted after him: "You're expected." He suspected that the driver obviously had an agreement with the authorities.
At the Joutseno reception center, four asylum seekers from Iraq told the newspaper "Helsingin Sanomat" that they had to pay 100 to 400 dollars for a bicycle, depending on how much money they had with them. The bikes were sold by a trailer on the side of the road. Five people from Somalia told the newspaper at the Nuijamaa border crossing: "The Russian border authorities don't allow you to walk, you have to have a bicycle."
Finland wants to close borders
Word of the situation at the Finnish-Russian border has also spread on social media. The public broadcaster YLE and "Helsingin Sanomat" report that safe travel via Russia to the EU member state Finland is being promoted in Arabic on Facebook and Tiktok.
"Russia has opened Finland's eastern border to immigration. Everyone should tell their friends that this route is worth a try," said a video published on Tiktok together with a map of the Finnish-Russian border crossings.
The Finnish government wants to put a stop to this and has announced that it will close the Nuijamaa, Imatra, Niirala and Vaalimaa border crossings, which are conveniently located near the Russian metropolis of St. Petersburg, for three months from midnight on Saturday. Asylum applications will be accepted at the Salla and Vartius border stations, which are located hundreds of kilometers further north.
Russia criticized the move. It was "an expression of the new dividing lines in Europe, which do not solve any issues, but - on the contrary - only create new problematic issues", Foreign Office spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the daily newspaper "Izvestia".
Similar situation in Estonia
On Thursday, Estonia also reported migrants at the Russian border without valid papers. Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said that the eight Somalis had been sent back. He spoke of a "hybrid attack". According to the control point in Narva, there were no new attempts to enter the country on Friday night. Läänemets emphasized on television that Estonia was prepared for anything and was ready to close border points if necessary.
In Finland, shortly after the border closure was announced, the border guard reported that 18 people had arrived at the Vartius border crossing in the far north without the necessary papers, who according to initial information came from Yemen, Syria and Somalia. They were the first to apply for asylum in this area in 2023.
- Due to the conflict in theirHome countries, a significant number of refugees from Syria, Turkey, Yemen, and Somalia are seeking asylum in Finland, often crossing the border from Russia despite lacking the necessary documents.
- The closure of Finnish border crossings with Russia has been met with criticism from Russia, who sees it as an unnecessary restriction on migration, particularly of refugees who have been encouraged to travel to Finland via social media.
Source: www.dpa.com
