‘Reminiscent Of Migration Crisis On Belarusian Border’: Finland Speaks About Increased Number Of Illegal Immigrants On Russian Border

The closure of border crossings cannot be ruled out.

The Finnish Border Guard representatives said that six times more migrants have entered the country illegally from Russia over the past two days than is usually recorded in a week. The closure of certain border crossings cannot be ruled out.

The Finnish border guards recorded a total of 60 attempts to cross the border illegally from Russia on Monday and Tuesday. This figure usually does not exceed 10 in a week, the Financial Times reports.

“Migrants from countries such as Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Turkey entered Finland illegally. The sharp increase, although not as high, is reminiscent of the migration crisis on the border of the European Union and Belarus, a close ally of Russia, which has sent and continues to send thousands of asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa to Lithuania, Poland and Latvia,” writes the Financial Times.

The Finnish Border Guard emphasizes that until recently Russia did not allow undocumented migrants to cross the border into Finland. The country has studied the experience of the migration crisis on the border with Belarus and will soon officially reveal how it will counter illegal migration from Russia.

“Finland can send illegal migrants to a separate border crossing, or we can reduce the level of traffic at the border. The option of closing certain border crossings is also possible,” the article reads.

The country’s authorities admit that the sharp increase in illegal migration is a part of the same action as the sudden damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline and undersea communication cable between Estonia and Finland. Russia and China are suspects.

In addition, Russia’s moves could be caused by Finland’s official joining NATO and its plans to locate American military bases on its territory.