Finland has accused Russia of flooding its borders with migrants from the Middle East and Africa
Finland has
accused Russia of flooding its borders with migrants from the Middle East and
Africa over its decision to increase defense cooperation with the United
States, a claim which Moscow denies.
As many as 300
migrants from Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Syria have arrived in Finland this week,
Reuters reported, citing the Finnish Border Guard. The arrivals have prompted
Finland to erect barricades at the border with Russia to stop the migrants from
crossing freely into the country.
The razor-wire
barriers were put up Friday around midnight at the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra
and Niirala border posts in southeast Finland, border officials said.
After two people
breached the barriers and crossed into Finland, border authorities said the
barriers would be improved so that similar crossings would be impossible.
A van at the
Nuijamaa, a border station between Russia and Finland in Lappeenranta, Finland,
on Thursday. (Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva via AP)
Migrants, mostly
from the Middle East and Africa, have arrived in the Nordic nation without
proper documentation and have sought asylum after allegedly being helped by
Russian authorities to travel to the heavily controlled border zone.
Migrants arriving
from Russia board a van to be transported to the Joutseno Reception Centre at
the Nuijamaa border station in Lappeenranta, Finland, on Thursday. (Vesa
Moilanen/Lehtikuva via AP)
Nearly all the
migrants have arrived at the border zone on bicycles that Finnish and Russian
media reports say were provided and sold to them.
Moscow has denied
the claims about being behind the flood of migrants. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov said that Russian authorities "deeply regret that the leadership of
Finland chose the path of deliberate distancing from the previously good nature
of our bilateral relations."
A border guard
vehicle moves bicycles used by asylum seekers to cross the border to an impound
warehouse in Lappeenranta, Finland, on Saturday. (Lehtikuva/Lauri Heino via
Reuters)
The Finland-Russia
land border serves as the European Union’s external frontier and runs a total
of 832 miles (1,340 kilometers), mostly through thick forests in the south, reaching
the rugged landscape in the Arctic north. There are currently nine crossing
points, with one dedicated to rail travel only.
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