The flow of Arab refugees to the border with Finland was organized by the FSB - investigation

The flood of refugees from Africa and the Middle East to the border crossings between Russia and Finland is not just with the knowledge but under the full control of Russian security forces. This was revealed in an investigation by The Insider journalists.

The decision was made in early November, one of the smugglers who transports migrants to the Polish border in Belarus told reporters. He noted that it was then that he was contacted by familiar "Russian officers" who asked him to redirect the flow of refugees from the union republic to the Finnish border. The migrants paid $1200 for the crossing: $500 for the Russian border guard and $200 for the driver of the car.

At first, migrants came to the checkpoint by taxi or in groups. In Arabic chats and Facebook groups, they said that Russian border guards gave them bicycles and let them pass without Schengen visas so that they could get to Finland and apply for asylum there.

As a result, information about a "new way" to the EU – through Finland directly from Russia – began to spread on social media. Migrants who managed to cross the border began posting videos about it.

By mid-November, the number of refugees reached several hundred. In response, the Finnish authorities banned bicycles from crossing the border and then began closing checkpoints.

When only one checkpoint remained, the northernmost one, Raya-Joosepi, located 240 km from Murmansk, migrants managed to get there with the help of the regional Russian authorities, who provided buses, set up tents near the checkpoint and provided hot food.

As a result, on November 30, Finland decided to completely close the border with Russia until December 14. However, after this date, the situation repeated itself and the restrictions were returned to January 14.

The Insider found in the public domain the phone numbers of people who promised to get to the Finnish border for money. Pretending to be a Syrian refugee, the correspondent called one of them. He said that it would cost about $4200 to get a Russian visa through a business invitation. The money would have to be transferred in advance to the account of a guarantor company in Turkey.

The intermediary also assured that there would be no problems, as the situation is controlled by Russian security forces: a colonel meets migrants at the airport when they arrive in Russia and helps them cross the border.

According to Finnish customs officials, since the beginning of November, nearly 1,500 refugees from Africa and the Middle East have managed to cross the border and apply for asylum in the European Union. All of them are now in Finland, waiting for their cases to be considered.

Background. As reported, Finland has reopened the newly opened border crossing points with Russia. This decision was made due to the renewed flow of refugees.