Finnish border guards on Thursday arrested 18 people from the Middle East who had walked through the snow from Russia.
The group of illegal border crossers consists of men, women and children, and the Finnish Border Guard I’ll let you know. All 18 people have applied for asylum and preliminary information suggests they are from the Middle East.
Crossing the border along the 1,340-kilometer land border between the two countries is illegal.
As per FSB support wave of immigration In autumn 2023, the Finnish government decided to close all eight legal checkpoints to Russia. It was decided in January that Keep border crossings closed Until February 11th.
Meanwhile, the FSB border guard service in Karelia, which is responsible for northern Finland’s border with Norway, advertises that Russian checkpoints are still open.
This information has been posted on several social media sites in northwestern Russia, informing the opening times of checkpoints in Karelia and Murmansk regions. From Karelia to Finland he has three checkpoints, and from the Murmansk region to Finnish Lapland he has two checkpoints.
The FSB has said that checkpoints on the Finnish side of the border are closed, but has not explained why Russia is keeping its checkpoints open as usual.
Thursday’s group of 18 people is the second time this year that illegal immigrants have entered Finland. On January 12, 11 Iranian nationals walked through the snow to seek asylum.That group is Finnish border guards said they were receiving support from people on the Russian side.
This week’s European border agency Frontex We have decided to extend support This is to control the border between Finland and Russia. Approximately 50 personnel work with the Finnish Border Guard in the areas of south-eastern Finland, North Karelia and the Kainuu region.
Related articles from various parts of the North:
Finland: Finland: 1,000 asylum seekers suspected of committing border violations, Yale News
Norway: Norway scraps border surveillance helicopters despite queues of Murmansk migrants, independent Barents Observer newspaper
Russia: Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson blames Finland and the West for border issue, Yale News
Sweden: EU deploys additional border guards to FinlandRadio Sweden