Rising irregular migration prompts tighter checks at Estonia’s borders

Estonian authorities have stepped up border checks after irregular migration increased this summer, with closer registration of people entering by land and leaving through Tallinn’s port, ERR reported in its programme “Impulss.”

Police and Border Guard Board officers are screening travellers at the port to identify people who may need closer checks, Tallinn border crossing chief Raavo Järva told the programme. He said officers look for behaviour that differs from that of an ordinary tourist. Nearly 20 people suspected of entering the country illegally have been caught at the port in the past couple of months.

During the summer, authorities also received public reports that led to several people being caught. Reports included one about a larger group in Nõmme and another about people sheltering in a tunnel, spotted during an evening bicycle ride.

Estonia has also sent additional officers to the Belarus-Latvia border, which Rain Järv, who led the Estpol11 rotation in Latvia in mid-August, described as active. He said many people on the Belarusian side were seeking to enter the European Union.

Järv said people could be seen moving in the bushes on the other side of the border fence. Attempts to cross included using homemade ladders, covering barbed wire, climbing over the fence, or trying to pass through or underneath it. He said there were no major escalations while he was at the border, but described the activity as deliberate action by the Belarusian state. He said people travelling towards Europe could therefore be considered victims of migration pressure.