At a checkpoint in the Murmansk region, 300 foreigners are waiting to cross to Finland

At the Salla checkpoint, located in the Kandalaksha district of the Murmansk region, about 300 foreigners are waiting to cross the border into Finland. This was announced by the Governor of the Murmansk Region Andrey Chibis. He called the situation at the checkpoint a humanitarian crisis.

According to the governor, 300 people from more than 10 foreign countries have been waiting “for days” to pass. “For our part, we provide comprehensive support so that they do not stand in the cold in the conditions of our Far North. We accommodate them and have also installed heating points. There people can warm up, eat and even just drink hot tea,” Mr. Chibis wrote in Telegram channel.

From November 18 to February 18, 2024, Finland closed four of the nine checkpoints on the border with Russia – Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala. The decision was explained by the influx of refugees from Africa and the Middle East arriving from Russian territory. According to Finnish authorities, the flow of refugees on the border with Russia increased from 32 people in the whole of October to 415 people in just half of November.

November 20 was disbanded a heating point for temporary accommodation of migrants on the border with Finland near the city of Kostomuksha in Karelia. More than 150 refugees who were at the warming point were detained by the police because they had expired Russian visas, reported local authorities.

About how European countries follow the example of Finland – in the publication “Kommersant” “The Finnish trick is contagious”.

Lusine Balasyan