34 Migrants Reach Finland’s Vartius Border Point Few Hours Before Its Closure

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 34 people without the necessary documents arrived at Finland's Vartius border crossing point.
• The majority of the 34 irregular migrants were from Syria, Somalia, and Egypt.
• Finland accuses Russia of helping irregular migrants cross into its territory, as a result of which it has closed all of its borders with Russia but one.

34 individuals lacking the necessary documents to enter the territory of Finland arrived at the Vartius International border crossing last Thursday, just a few hours before the closure of this point.

According to the Finnish Border Guard Service (Raja), the majority of these irregular migrants were from Syria, Somalia, and Egypt. When offered the option of seeking asylum in Finland, several of them declined.

In their case, measures are initiated to deny entry to the country. All 34 individuals who arrived in the country were transported to the reception centre designated by the Immigration Service.

The Border Guard Service of Finland (RAJA)

The Border Guards have marked several similar cases in the last few days. Recently, RAJA has also reported on individuals arriving at the national border crossing at the Vartius-Lyttä border on bikes, who, despite being told to return to Russia, refused to do so.

The Border Guard also claims that the Russian border service closed the gate after the people left its territory, thus preventing them from returning.

Due to the situation, the Kainuu border guard had to, on Thursday, November 23, on several occasions to temporarily interrupt border crossing traffic, which affected the flow of border crossing traffic at the Vartius-Lyttä border crossing.

The Border Guard Service of Finland (RAJA)

They also point out that as a result, in order to verify every vehicle waiting to cross the border, the border crossing point’s opening hours had to be extended by thirty minutes.

On November 23, Raja announced that 58 asylum seekers from Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Syria arrived at the Salla international border crossing. One of them was in a severe condition when he arrived, so the authorities called an ambulance for him.

Following the last events of this month, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that Russia allowed immigrants to enter Finland without necessary documents, seeing it as a tactic to destabilise the country.

Taking these events into account, the Finnish government has decided to close three more border crossing points with Russia in an effort to address the growing concerns about national public order and security.

Thus, the border crossing of Kuusamo, Salla and Vartius has been closed for all people, including Finns, from November 24 until December 23 of this year.

Earlier on November 18, Finland decided to close four border crossing points with Russia – Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra, and Niirala. According to Finnish authorities, such a measure was taken in a bid to prevent irregular entries.

As a result, Finland now has left only one border crossing point with Russia, thus all the traffic will be centralised at the Raja-Jooseppi border crossing point, which will be open daily starting from 10 am to 2 pm.

Yesterday, a group of three people from Russia arrived at the Raja-Jooseppi international border crossing. According to RAJA, these individuals who crossed the border on bicycles were nationals of Syria and Afghanistan, and they came to seek asylum in Finland.