Closure of Finnish-Russian border sparks protest

At the end of November, there are only a few hours of light per day at the Raja-Jooseppi crossing point, the northernmost border crossing between Finland and Russia, located in the arctic Lapland region.

Shortly before the crossing was to be closed down on November 30, snow blanketed the landscape and at -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), the air was cold. There were a few frozen journalists standing around waiting for some asylum seekers to show up.

Earlier in the month, Finland had announced that it would close all its other border crossings with Russia amid rising political tensions. The government said there were too many migrants crossing into Finland — an EU member state — illegally. 

The decision prompted a number of migrants to make their way to the Raja-Jooseppi crossing, which is over 1,000 kilometers (ca. 621 miles) from the Finnish capital Helsinki and some 250 kilometers from the Russian city of Murmansk.

In the last week of November, more than 60 people applied for asylum in Finland at this border crossing.

Guided tours for journalists

On a guided tour of the crossing for journalists, Finnish border guards illustrated the typical flow of migrants. "The refugees come from there," said Vesa Arfmann, the head of the border guard station, pointing in the direction of Russia. Then Arfmann led the group to a container where "vehicles" have accumulated. The border cannot be crossed by foot and there are many bicycles. "These are now the property of the Finnish state," explained Santeri Komu, another border guard. "Maybe they will be auctioned off."

The journalists were also shown a heated hangar where migrants have to wait to be debriefed and asked for identification and why they are seeking asylum. There were also interpreters on hand. Many of the people arriving did not have documents but Komu said that two men had arrived recently with Yemeni passports.

By the time the tour was over, it was already dark. No migrant had arrived that day. And it was now too late: The staff at the Raja-Jooseppi border finished their work day and the crossing was closed.

Russian-speaking Finns protest

The closing of the border will not only keep migrants out, but will also make it difficult for Finland's Russian-speaking population to move between the countries. They make up about 100,000 of the country's population of five-and-a-half million. It is not unusual for people to live in Finland and commute to the Russian cities of Vyborg or St Petersburg.

Viktoria Ilyina and Yevgenii Koshchevnikov were planning to travel from Lappeenranta, in southern Finland, to St Petersburg at the end of November because their five-year-old son Serafim was due to be operated on. The family moved to Finland one year ago but preferred to receive treatment in Russia: "We have doctors there whom we trust and they speak Russian," said Ilyina. But the border closure meant that they had to postpone the operation.

They were also unable to visit Koshchevnikov's father who has cancer and recently suffered a stroke. "I am very worried that my father's health will disintegrate, and I won't be with him," he said. "I have thought about leaving my family here and getting there via Murmansk or flying from Helsinki to Istanbul to get to him."

Russian speakers protest in Lappeenranta

They are not alone with such stories in Lappeenranta, which is located 25 kilometers from the Russian border. About 5% of the population there speaks Russian. On November 19, a number of Russian speakers demonstrated in front of city hall after three of the southern border crossings to Russia were closed.

Ivan Devyatkin was one of the organizers of the protest. He has been living in Finland for 12 years. He studied there and speaks fluent Finnish. He also has a son in the country. He never used to take part in political demonstrations, he said, but the closure of the border changed everything. He dropped his job and has since been doing everything he can to persuade the Finnish authorities to listen to him and the other Russian-speaking citizens of Finland.

"It was like a stab in the back. A betrayal on the part of the Finnish government. That we were not taken into account, as if we, the Russian-speaking minority in Finland, didn't have our own interests," he said, explaining that he wanted to be able to talk to politicians. He has suggested at least that one border crossing be opened up in the south. His mother, his brother and sisters, live in Russia, he said. They had all been planning to celebrate New Year's together.

He staged a one-man protest for 30 hours to draw attention to the problem. That's how long it would have taken to travel by road from Lappeenranta to St Petersburg via the Raja-Jooseppi crossing in northern Finland when it was still open. He held a poster on which was written in Swedish, the second official language in Finland: "I love Finland. But does Finland love me?"

Rise in illegal border entries

The Finnish authorities have cited security reasons to justify the complete closure of the border with Russia. There was a significant increase in migrants entering Finland via Russia between August and November — the Finnish border authorities reported almost 1,000 asylum seekers had entered. There used to be far fewer migrants arriving in Finland.

The Finnish government has said Russian border officials deliberately allowed migrants without visas to enter the EU. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described this as a "hybrid war" in retaliation for Finland becoming a member of NATO.

"Our aim is to say to Russia: we don't accept this... And it needs to be stopped," said Finnish Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen from the right-wing populist Finns Party. "We really hope that the Russians understand it is for both our benefits if the border remains peaceful," she told DW.

Rights of refugees violated

The closure of the border has also sparked criticism in other countries because of fears that refugee rights are being infringed upon. Finnish Non-Discrimination Ombudsman Kristina Stenman said that people's access to asylum could be jeopardized. Currently, people applying for asylum in Finland can only do so at the Helsinki airport and at the country's ports.

Katya Morava, a member of the Lappeenranta city council, said that there were domestic reasons for closing the border with Russia: "The current government is rather right-wing and populist. Its election campaign ran on the slogan 'close the borders' and it is now fulfilling its promise without concern about whether there are other categories of citizens whose interests and rights are being violated," Morava said.

"Of course we are aware that this decision is having an effect on people crossing the border point legally and in a normal way," insisted Rantanen from the Interior Ministry. "We are very sorry about that and we hope that the situation gets normal as soon as possible, so we can open all the borderline, but it depends on Russia."

The Finnish television station Yle has reported that the border crossings might re-open on December 14.

This article was originally published in Russian.