Finland Times

 

Customs at the Finnish-Russian border in Salla, Northern Finland. File Photo – Lehtikuva.

Although the Finnish-Russian deal restricting border crossing expired on Friday, no asylum-seeker had entered Finland at the border crossing posts at Salla and Raja-Jooseppi in the previous two days, Border Guard sources said.

 

The Lapland Border Guard termed the border traffic normal.

 

“Even after the expiry of the border agreement, no one with inadequate papers so far has tried to come across,” said Lapland Border Guard’s Head of central command Kimmo Louhelainen.

 

The border agreement was signed last April between the two next-door neighbours, after President Sauli Niinistö and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a meeting had agreed to impose temporary restrictions on traversing the border at the two border posts in order to check irregular refugee influx.

 

The agreement was valid for half a year till October 7.

 

The deal ensured that virtually all those who crossed over the border during that period were Finns, Russians and Belarusians.

 

The agreement had effectively prevented uncontrolled entry in Finland through the Salla and Raja-Jooseppi border-crossing points.

 

The agreement was primarily aimed at inhibiting uncontrolled border crossings, among other things, as in the first months of the year, more than one thousand people arrived in Lapland across the borders and applied for asylum.

 

Between November 2015 and February 2016, more than 1,700 refugees entered Finland across the eastern border. 

 

The number surprised Finland, because, in the past, Russia had barred migrants without proper papers from coming in the border areas.