Life along the closed land border between Finland and Russia

euronews (in English)

In the autumn, the Finnish government closed all eight crossing points it shares with Russia, along a border of almost 1,400 kilometres. They will remain closed until at least mid-April.

Transcript

00:00 (dramatic music)

00:02 (speaking in foreign language)

00:06 - Illegal migrants are utilizing the weaknesses

00:10 of European asylum system.

00:12 - Closing off the borders, building border walls,

00:16 it increases the risk of human rights violations.

00:19 (dramatic music)

00:28 (speaking in foreign language)

00:56 (dramatic music)

00:59 (speaking in foreign language)

01:10 (dramatic music)

01:18 (speaking in foreign language)

01:25 (dramatic music)

01:27,

01:56 (dramatic music)

01:59 (speaking in foreign language)

02:07 (dramatic music)

02:13 (speaking in foreign language)

02:19 (dramatic music)

02:21 (speaking in foreign language)

02:47 (speaking in foreign language)

02:51 - After I checked in, I go to St. Petersburg.

02:59 Then I go to hostel there, which maybe two days,

03:02 two, three days, then after I go to another city.

03:05 We work city, then I buy from there a bicycle.

03:09 Then after I come to Finland.

03:12 The police and the arms, they help us.

03:16 So it's good for us because it's so easy to come here.

03:21 (speaking in foreign language)

03:26 - We pay each one $3,000 for this one.

03:34 Yeah, after we cross from there,

03:37 they make interview with us, investigation.

03:43 After they check our bags like these things,

03:48 they said, "Okay, we will sell for you bicycle."

03:53 We bought the bicycle $300.

03:56 After that, they give us the bicycle

04:01 and they give us stamp on the,

04:05 for exit from Russians border.

04:10 And we drive the bicycle to the border here.

04:15 (speaking in foreign language)

04:20 (gentle music)

04:28 (speaking in foreign language)

04:39 (speaking in foreign language)

04:43 (speaking in foreign language)

04:54 (gentle music)

05:07 (speaking in foreign language)

05:11 - We have information of that there are

05:27 in the city of St. Petersburg area,

05:29 thousands of persons who might come to Finland.

05:32 You're using this route.

05:34 We know what we have to open the borders

05:37 or at least some of them in some time

05:40 because this cannot go forever.

05:44 But we are in the same time drafting changes

05:49 to our legislation who make us better prepared

05:55 to this situation when it arose again.

05:58 - For example?

06:00 - To fasten our asylum request process.

06:05 (gentle music)

06:09 (speaking in foreign language)

06:13 (gentle music)

06:15 (speaking in foreign language)

06:26 (speaking in foreign language)

06:40 (speaking in foreign language)

06:44 - Do you have any ties with the Kremlin?

07:10 - I consider myself as an opposition to Putin.

07:13 - Do you understand that in the current situation,

07:15 geopolitical situation, many people,

07:17 they mistrust this kind of demonstrations?

07:22 - Yes, but I still believe that if what you are doing

07:27 is right, then people will hear you maybe later.

07:35 (speaking in foreign language)

07:39 (gentle music)

07:41 - In the Mediterranean, the smugglers will take people

08:03 to small boats and the trip will be hundreds of kilometers.

08:08 Now here is, if people are smuggled to the Finnish border,

08:12 the trip will be 10 meters and you are on the side

08:15 of Finland, we cannot keep the door open.

08:18 We should be able to rapidly find out who needs

08:21 an asylum process and who not and return those people

08:24 who don't need asylum back to Russia.

08:28 (speaking in foreign language)

08:32 (dramatic music)

08:36 (dramatic music)

08:38 (speaking in foreign language)

08:42 (speaking in foreign language)

09:12 - They wanna shorten the length of residence permits.

09:16 They wanna make it more difficult to get citizenship,

09:19 to get permanent residence.

09:20 The fact that you cannot have your family with you,

09:23 that's gonna make integration even more difficult.

09:26 We do have human rights that belong to every single person

09:31 and the government has duties to respect these rights.

09:34 (speaking in foreign language)

09:39 (speaking in foreign language)

09:43 (dramatic music)

09:53 (dramatic music)

09:56 (upbeat music)

09:58 you

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