Illegal entrants across border line from Russia have buried dreams of easy «transit» into Nordics. Now, the red line is Piusa River at Estonia’s South-Eastern edge: once over that, they promptly surrender to authorities.
People sneaking into Estonia apply fresh approach
19th February 2015, 15:56
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«Last year we noticed the tactics are new indeed. They are crossing the border at basically the same spot – around Koidula border point across from Pechory. Once over the line, they will be waiting for us,» said Southern prefecture border guard head Tamar Tamm.
That the town Pechory, about 10,000 inhabitants strong, is the final base camp for illegal entrants, the border guards have known for years. In the area, life is made easy for them and «travel agents» by the old Soviet-time roads network; having been dug through, it still comes quite close to the border line. The usual is to stop the car a few kilometres from Estonian border and run across the line near the Koidula Village to the South-East of Pechory, guided in the dark by headlights of the vehicle.
The better-equipped smugglers – like possessing a GPS – also use the roads network South-West from Pechory, near Helbi Village, to hide trails. Over these past two years, these two have become the hot spots at Estonia’s South-Eastern border.
All in all, Police and Border Guard Board detected 164 cases of illegal migration into Estonia, including 285. Of these, 77 were caught on South-Eastern border and with these, the reason was not expiring visas – like elsewhere in Estonia – but illegal crossing of border. The only place comparable to that is Narva with 44 captured, often with falsified documents.
Africa rising
Mr Tamm said that if Russian border guards be believed, most of aspiring entrants are caught before they reach Estonian border. In Russia, getting caught in the border zone is punishable with a small fine. «About half make it here,» he said.
To add credibility to what the Russian border guards say, the terrain is tougher on their side and at several locations the Eastern neighbours have erected barbed wire barriers.
It’s also different as to who are coming. Last decade, the farthest spots of origin may have been Afghanistan and Iraq. Starting 2011, Africans, Georgians and Vietnamese dominate.
Towards the end of the summer of 2012, they already attempted to open a channel for Syrians. After that, a definite trend next to Vietnamese is people from Africa: citizens of Sudan, Egypt, Mali, Ivory Coast and Algeria.
The usual tactic is to «knock» on the border repeatedly: when unable to get into Latvia, they edge up to Lake Peipsi, one step at a time; and vice versa. Often, the people pay to those in Russia who take them near the border by car and point out the way to go.
The business is rather cold, uncaring – at times, even in mid-winter the hoppers aren’t warned that they have an icy Piusa River to cross. The Sudanese who died last January due to hypothermia was not the first one who took off wet garments at river bank. Some immigrants cannot swim; the last one to perish was an African 30 years of age whose body was found on August 14th last year.
Sometimes, the crossing is not that tragic. For instance, some have afterwards told border guards how they got precise directions for coming to Estonia from a friend who was at the time in Vao, Lääne-Virumaa asylum-seekers centre and shared his experience via social media.
Some speak Russian
As border guards share information, rather often ambushes are set up long in advance in Võru and Põlva Counties. But even if a patrol happens upon hoppers by chance, the two guards need not run after these in all directions: they may summons an alarm squad.
During the time with no snow, lion’s share of the work is done by patrol dogs. Every cordon has four.
These are doing an awesome job – the longest successful chase was 70 kilometres.
«Knowing also the numbers who cross into Latvia, I do not envy them,» said Mr Tamm. Estonia’s South-Eastern border with Russia being about 80 kilometres, Latvia has 220 kilometres to cover. At the start of the decade, the Georgians who entered Latvia were often brought to Tallinn to board a ship; now, the risk to get caught by police in Ikla or D-Terminal has become too high.
According to Tallink press representative Luulea Lääne, the company’s employees have these past few years caught some two-three people in Port of Tallinn who had no right to travel to the country of destination. She did not want to go into details on how the cheats betray themselves.
«Our passenger lists are available to Police and Border Guard Board, so probably preliminary work to find potential illegal immigrants happens as these are surveyed,» said Ms Lääne.
As assured by Mr Tamm and prosecutor Meelis Juursoo involved with illegal immigrants over South-Eastern border, the bulk of immigrants are economic fugitives seeking a better life. «Some of them even speak Russian, they have been working in Russia for a long time and are looking for better wages.»
Tough luck
Estonian Human Rights Centre legal expert Anni Säär sees the darker side, advising those seeking asylum and whose job it is to get the illegal migrants to honestly tell their story.
Some stories are so rough they can’t go to print.
«What touches you is what happens to children. The way men are tortured already seems normal as if, as one hears so much of it. But, still, the methods: hanged by feet, soles of feet beaten, seared with iron, fed rotten food, held in a room for two months,» she listed some.
Every nationality has a basic narrative, but the model is one: getting into Russia, with visa or without, and from there to the West. The Sudanese are fleeing from the domestic conflict, are usually poor, can’t afford to hire smugglers and have a GPS to assist them at best.
The Syrian refugees, however, are mostly the upper middle class, and have sold their house and real estate to pay the smugglers. Just to get a passport there, one needs to dish out a $1,000 bribe just to get a passport.
A curiosity among asylum seekers was a wealthy Pakistani family who fell victim to persecution; back home, sports cars and breeding horses were part of their daily life.
The costlier the «trip», the stronger the threats by smugglers to kill a family should they tell the truth. But if they don’t tell the truth to border guards, chances to get the asylum shrink. With distrust abounding at the border, Police and Border Guard is appealing to court to have immigrants placed at Harku expulsion centre. Last year, this was the lot of all asylum seeker illegally crossing the border, except for one – the court thought the centre was simply too crowded.
Destroying documents
In a way, the police is right, as some, having been released, have fled Estonia without waiting for the end of asylum proceedings. For a Vietnamese, delivered from expulsion centre and directed to asylum-seekers accommodation at Illuka, a car came to get him from there that very day.
On the other hand, there are the immigrants who are indeed victims and are afterwards granted asylum in Estonia. Last year, 20 such applications were satisfied. Actually, asylum could be applied for at the very border point, but from thence the people are often send back without thorough deliberations. For example, if Police and Border Guard Board analysis says Russia is a safe place for the applicant, there is no basis to proceed his application.
An incident of this sort, dating back to 2003, is still living its own life motivating immigrants to destroy their documents. Back then, two Syrians with Russian visas came to Narva border point and yelled that they needed protection. As the visas were valid, the men were pushed back towards Russia.
At the whim of the moment, one guy tore his passport apart and thus the visa ceased to be valid. He, then, was able to remain in Estonia while the fellow Syrian was handed over to Russia’s border guards.