Migrant influx strains Estonia’s police and administrative courts

Estonia has detained 296 migrants who entered the country without legal grounds, while its detention centre is overcrowded and requests to hold migrants are putting pressure on administrative courts, ERR reports.

Most migrants currently arriving in Estonia without legal grounds have come through Latvia. Since July, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) has detained 296 people it links to the Belarusian migration attack. Latvia is meeting its international obligation to take migrants back, but the return process takes time because people can challenge procedures and decisions. Those appeals can take weeks, while different procedures may take one or two months, said Liis Valk, head of the PPA’s Identity and Status Bureau.

Tunnels recently discovered in Lithuania and Latvia were used to cross the borders. Estonia has other places where people can be held, but the centre currently in use is overcrowded, and maintaining order requires substantial work. Police said they had not observed major ethnic conflicts, though tensions have arisen between groups over everyday matters such as television channels and places in the food queue.

Police need court permission to detain someone for more than 48 hours. Last year, they sought fewer than 200 such orders; the total is now approaching 500, with 400 requests added since July. On Sunday, a judge processed detention applications at the centre from 10 a.m. until the main evening news broadcast.

The volume of cases is delaying other court work, including disputes over disability assessments and tax liabilities, said Maret Hallikma, a judge at Tallinn Administrative Court. The court also urgently needs more lawyers and hearing secretaries.