Expert says Rae detention centre could symbolise state’s migration failure
Wednesday 30th September 2026 on 05:30 in
Estonia
Rae municipality’s added burden from migration pressure could become a symbol of the state’s inability to manage illegal migration, migration expert Kert Valdaru said on ETV’s “Impulss” programme, ERR reported.
Child protection workers in Rae have been put under pressure by having to represent people held at a detention centre in the municipality who say they are minors. Estonia has detained 269 people for illegal entry this year. More than 70 claimed to be under 18, but subsequent checks found that only two were actually minors.
Valdaru said the state was shifting its responsibilities to the municipality without providing enough resources. He said the detention centre was a state institution, yet the local authority was being told to handle cases involving detainees who claim to be minors.
He compared the situation to the state opening a high school, then asking the municipality to provide teachers. The state should take greater responsibility for the children at the Rae detention centre and give the municipality enough funding to cover its costs, he said.
Tartu City Council member Sandra Laur said people crossing the border illegally were placing an unreasonable burden on local social services. In Rae, cases involving people who claim to be minors account for a third of child protection specialists’ workload, she said.
Narva City Council member and former interior minister Katri Raik said Estonia’s only detention centre was overcrowded and under pressure. She questioned whether its capacity should be expanded and asked whether the state would reimburse municipalities for the costs. Raik said she did not consider expanding the centre in Narva a feasible option.
Police and Border Guard Board deputy director general Veiko Kommusaar said the state was doing all it could to counter migration pressure from Latvia, but closing the Estonia-Latvia border entirely would not be a solution. He said a 30-day closure would cost eight million euros and would not resolve the migration problem as a whole. He said efforts should focus on the European Union’s external border and on catching smugglers.