Finland’s decisions about the situation on the eastern border are transmitted even in just minutes to Arabic-speaking social media groups controlled by smugglers.
Hanna Visala,
Ilkka Kemppinen
The discussion about entering Finland via Russia is heated on Arabic-language social media. This despite the fact that Finland has closed almost all border crossings on the eastern border.
Decisions made by Finland on the eastern border reach Arabic-speaking social media groups in an instant.
For example, the news that only the Raja-Joosep border crossing would remain open spread in an Arabic-speaking social media group just a few minutes after the Finnish government announced the matter on Wednesday.
The writing below is an excerpt from a discussion in a large Facebook group. In the group, asylum seekers, smugglers and others share information about entering Finland or other countries.
“Who is ready to leave for Finland today at 03:00, there are at least two of us leaving for Raja-Jooseppi”
“What is Finland’s border situation?”
“One intersection is open, called Raja-Jooseppi. The decision came 15 minutes ago.”
Finland has become the number one topic
has reviewed hundreds of messages that have been published on Arabic-language social media in recent days.
Many groups operating on Facebook and the messaging service Telegram are large and have been operating for several years. Some groups can have a couple of hundred thousand followers.
In these groups, Finland has become the number one topic instead of other European countries.
This article shows examples of typical discussions in groups.
The senders of the messages share a lot of information about how to get to Finland’s only open border station.
The groups also have exact prices for transportation and visas. Some of the senders of the messages are probably smugglers who finance up to several thousand euros from aspirants to Finland.
has not been able to get confirmation of the information published in the groups from other sources. All information may not be true.
The picture below shows a post advising the route from St. Petersburg to Murmansk. In connection with it, the exact distance from Murmansk to Raja-Jooseppi is told.
Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo (kok) spoke at a press conference on Wednesday about possible new groups of people aspiring to Finland. According to him, there are signs that more people are being brought to Finland from third countries than at present.
The messages seen by on social media support this assessment. In many groups, by far the most popular topic is access to Finland via Russia.
Based on several posts, the destination of asylum seekers is not only Finland, but Finland acts as a transit country to the rest of Europe.
Finland is advertised in the messages as an easy route to Europe. One person markets a taxi trip from Finland to Germany at a price of 2,500–3,500 euros.
In the publication below, an anonymous message advertises that Finland is the gateway to Sweden, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands.
“The caravan towards Europe is growing”
One publisher writes on Telegram that he is gathering a large group of people from different Middle Eastern countries. According to the author, the plan is to organize in Turkey and then leave for Europe at the beginning of next year.
– We settle in large numbers in the European Union.. It is easier for us if we are together and the caravan grows. This includes tickets and more. This is a golden opportunity.
The post published on Wednesday, November 22 can be seen in the image below.
One of the issues currently discussed by the panelists is the announcement by the Finnish border authorities that the southernmost border stations of Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala on the eastern border would open again on December 23.