The Finnish Ministry of the Interior announced on Thursday that all of its land borders with Russia would be closed from December 15 to January 14 due to the surge of illegal immigration, just a few hours after reopening two of the eight border crossings.
Due to the surge of illegal immigration at the southeastern border between Finland and Russia, the Finnish government decided on November 16 this year to close four of the eight border crossing points on its eastern border with Russia, which came into effect on November 18 and is to remain in place until February 2024. On November 22, it further announced the closure of another three crossing points until December 23, leaving only one crossing point at Raja-Joosep open for individuals seeking asylum. However, as illegal immigration continued to grow, Finland made the decision on November 28 to close all border crossings, including the one at Raja-Joosep, until December 13.
On Tuesday, the government reassessed the situation and stated that since illegal immigration had stopped after the November 28 policy, the Vaalimaa and Niirala border crossings would be reopened starting on Thursday. However, right after the decision came into force, illegal immigration resumed immediately, with 29 people entering Finland illegally through the two crossing points on the first morning they were reopened. The government therefore urgently ordered the closure of the two border crossings on Thursday afternoon, which will go into effect on Friday night.
The Ministry of the Interior alleged that, according to the observations of the Border Guard and the information received, the illegal entries at its borders were associated with foreign states or related to international crimes. Therefore, the government claims the closure of crossing points is necessary to defend its national security and public order, as well as to avoid undue influence to its immigration procedures. Notably, during the past few months, the number of asylum seekers at the eastern border of Finland has grown sharply, many of whom are from third countries. Finland has accused Russia’s change in policy, which allowed people to travel from Russia to Finland without proper documentation.
Currently, all applications for asylum at Finland’s external borders have been centralized to the border crossing points for air transport and water transport. No asylum will be allowed from the land border. The current decision will be in place until January 14, 2024, at which point the government will reassess its measures and make appropriate adjustment if necessary.
