Police vans outside Oodi Central Library in Helsinki on 6 January 2025. Police in Finland have received around 50 reports of offences where the or one of the suspects is a person who entered the country across the eastern border since the second half of 2023, according to information obtained from the National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) by YLE. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)
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A SPOKESPERSON at the National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) has provided YLE with more information about the roughly 1,300 asylum seekers who have crossed the eastern border into Finland since 2023.
On Tuesday, the Finnish public broadcaster reported that such asylum seekers are suspected in connection with about 50 reports of offences submitted to law enforcement officials.
While the officials have not provided details on individual reports, they have revealed that the reports deal primarily with violent and property crimes. Police have also received a smaller number of reports about sex crimes, drug offences, traffic violations and offences committed against authorities.
The KRP spokesperson said police are collaborating with other authorities to prevent crimes.
Around 1,300 third-country citizens have entered the country across the eastern border since the second half of 2023. The Finnish government decided at the end of 2023 to close border-crossing points on the border, citing the weaponisation of migrants in a hybrid influence operation by Russia.
The spokesperson also revealed that police have identified a few dozen asylum seekers who could in theory pose a threat to internal security in Finland. Such estimates are based on various factors, including personal background, previous activities, intelligence received from national or international authorities and suspected involvement in criminal activity after their arrival in Finland.
Typically only a limited amount of information can be cobbled together on an asylum seeker immediately upon their arrival.
A considerable share of the third-country citizens have also disappeared since their arrival. “At some point approximately 35 per cent have been unaccounted for,” the spokesperson wrote to YLE on Tuesday.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
