Putin exporting migrants to Finland

 The Telegraph:

When Finland officially joined NATO in April this year as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin threatened that it would respond with “counter measures”. Now, seven months later, it appears Putin is trying to take his revenge on its neighbour.

Over the past ten days, Finland has hurriedly been shutting its border crossings with Russia. On 18 November, Helsinki shut four; another three were closed on the 24th. Now just one checkpoint along the 830 mile border - the most northern Raja-Jooseppi crossing - remains open, although according to the Finnish press it may not stay so for long.

The reason for Finland’s rush to shut down its crossings is the sudden surge in the number of third-country asylum seekers arriving at the border. Since the beginning of November alone, some 900 migrants from countries including Morocco, Somalia and Afghanistan have crossed over from Russia with the aim of claiming asylum in Finland, the country’s border agency has claimed. Helsinki has accused Russia of engaging in “hybrid warfare” by encouraging and aiding migrants to make the crossing in what it says are efforts to sow discord in the country and cultivate a new migrant crisis.

Finland’s actions have triggered a diplomatic row that is now threatening to escalate. The Kremlin audaciously denied its accusations, calling them “far-fetched”; the Finnish ambassador was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry last week to provide an explanation. Meanwhile the Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo has declared he has no intention of personally negotiating with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Compared to the hundreds of thousands who arrive in Britain every year, a thousand or so migrants pitching up on Finland’s borders since mid-August may not seem like a number worth the worsening row. However, with a population of just about 5.4 million, such an irregular increase in migration into the country is enough to give Finland’s government cause for concern.
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The number of migrants on the move around the world has become significant as the US can attest in its own dealings with the problem.  Poor people in poor countries are looking for something better and their own countries are glad to see them go in most cases.  The US southern border is clogged with them and the state of Texas has developed its own border security in the absence of the Biden administration doing its job.

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