Estonia detains almost a hundred illegal migrants in two weeks
Estonian border guard officials say police detained 99 people over the past two weeks who are suspected of lacking legal grounds to stay in the country, describing it as a hybrid threat rather than ordinary migration.
Indrek Aru, head of the border guard bureau at the Northern Prefecture of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), said that over the past two weeks police in Estonia detained 99 people believed to have no legal grounds to remain in the country.
Earlier this week, on Monday, PPA deputy director general for border guard Veiko Kommusaar reported 81 detained illegal migrants, meaning roughly twenty more people were detained over the following five days.
"From our perspective, this is primarily a hybrid attack, and these are certainly not ordinary migrants," Aru said.
Daily checks at borders and ports
Police carry out daily checks on roads leading into the country, as well as at Tallinn Airport and major ports. Aru noted that on August 4, police detained about ten people from Somalia in central Tallinn who had no legal grounds to be in the country.
No new illegal migrants were found on Thursday or Friday, but Aru cautioned against expecting the migration pressure to ease in the coming days.
Conflicts at the detention center
He added that conflicts arise easily at the temporary detention center currently holding illegal migrants, with a number of incidents occurring over the past couple of weeks. Police have so far managed to resolve them without major difficulty. There have been cases where police were threatened, but most conflicts at the center are everyday disputes — for example, people bumping into each other and scuffling while queuing for food, or misunderstandings when someone eats another detainee's food.
Sometimes an illegal migrant can be deported to the country they unlawfully entered Estonia from within 48 hours, while in other cases the process can take several years.
On average, police receive five to ten calls a day from residents about illegal migrants. Aru said that while some calls are justified, people should not assume everyone with a different skin color is a problem. Instead, he suggested calling if a person appears lost or exhausted, or if it involves large groups wandering without apparent purpose.
