In response to a surge of illegal immigration, the Finnish Ministry of the Interior has recently announced its decision to close all land borders with Russia from December 15 to January 14. This comes only hours after two of the eight border crossings had been reopened.
This is not the first time Finland has taken such measures. In light of increased illegal immigration across the southeastern border with Russia, the Finnish government decided on November 16 to close half of the eight border crossings with Russia. This policy went into effect on November 18 and is set to remain until February 2024. Subsequently, on November 22, they announced the closure of an additional three crossing points until December 23. This left only one crossing point at Raja-Joosep active for individuals seeking asylum.
However, illegal immigration continued to rise, leading Finland to close all border crossings, including Raja-Joosep, on November 28 until December 13. On December 14, the reopened Vaalimaa and Niirala border crossings again saw an immediate resumption of illegal immigration, prompting the government to close these two points as well.
The Finnish government claims that these closures are necessary for protecting national security and maintaining public order. They assert that the illegal entries are linked to foreign states or international crimes, and could unduly influence the country’s immigration procedures. Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of asylum seekers – many from third countries – at the eastern border. The Finnish government has accused a change in Russia’s policy, which now allows individuals to travel from Russia to Finland without appropriate documentation, as contributing to this increase.
Presently, all applications for asylum must be centralized to the border crossing points for air transport and water transport. The land border will not be permitting any asylum applications. The measures are set to remain in place until January 14, 2024, but will be reassessed and potentially adjusted based on the situation at that time.
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