11 Iranians held for crossing Finnish border from Russia illegally

The Southeastern Finland Border Guard on Thursday arrested 11 people while crossing Finnish border from Russia illegally, said Finnish Border Guard in a press release on Friday.

All the detainees are Iranian male nationals, who were trying to enter into Finland from an area in between Nuijamaa border checkpoint and Joutseno in Lappeenranta.

They were travelling in a group and all of them sought asylum in Finland following their arrest.

The Border Guard after the preliminary investigation said that the group was assisted in the illegal border crossing from the Russian side.

The Finnish Border Guard continued investigation into the incident in cooperation with the Russian border authority and senior officials of both the sides held a meeting on Thursday following the illegal border crossing.

The incident took place on the same day when the Finnish government on January 11 decided that the border crossing points on the land border between Finland and Russia will remain closed until 11 February 2024.