Helsinki entrepreneur says “humanitarian reasons" prompted him to organise illegal entry of Chechens

Border Guard investigates suspected aggravated organising of illegal entry

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Helsinki Internet-entrepreneur Mikael Storsjö says that he is the man that the Finnish Border Guard suspects of arranging the illegal entry of 15 Chechens into Finland.
      All of the men, women, and children involved have applied for asylum in Finland and they are being housed at Finnish refugee reception centres.
     
The Border Guard announced the suspicion on Thursday, saying that the Chechens came to Finland through Turkey. The suspect had organised air travel by three different groups from Istanbul to Finland. He was caught when he flew in with the first group.
      First Lieutenant Matti Kettunen told Helsingin Sanomat that the suspect is familiar to the Border Guard, and has been investigated for similar activities before.
      What Kettunen did not say that the man in question is a well-known human rights activist who has brought in dozens of Chechens before, and was also involved with a Chechen rebel website that was in the news here nearly five years ago.
      Kettunen emphasised that the actions of the suspect are considered aggravated, because the cases show indications of organised activity.
     
In addition to the main suspect, the Border Guard believes that one Finnish resident and one asylum seeker were involved in organising the illegal entry. Kettunen says that there is no sign of any involvement by a bigger international league.
      Reacting to the press release issued by the Border Guard on Thursday, Storsjö told Helsingin Sanomat that he was the “main suspect” in the case. He noted that under the Finnish criminal code, organising entry into the country is not illegal, if weighty humanitarian considerations are involved.
      “I have operated in the open, and I have nothing to hide in the matter”, he says.
     
The Border Guard says that two asylum seekers are suspected of having committed forgery.
      Outi Lepola, refugee expert at Amnesty International, says that the border guard should know that the entry of an asylum seeker into a country is never illegal, even if it takes place in an unregulated manner, and with false papers.
      Kettunen says that the case was unusual, in that most of those who entered the country used their own passports, but they did not have visas or residence permits.
     
Storsjö says that all of the people that he brought into Finland had flight tickets from Istanbul via Helsinki to St. Petersburg. As citizens of Russia they did not need a visa to Finland, or a residence permit, which means that they were allowed on the plane in Istanbul as transit passengers.
      Storsjö says that he has used this method to bring in about 50 Chechen refugees in recent years.
      Before coming to Finland, the Chechens arrived in Turkey through Azerbaijan. In Turkey they lived in refugee camps.
      “They are not allowed to work, and get no state support. Their children are not allowed to go to school”, Storsjö said, explaining why he wanted to help them.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Government prepares changes to asylum policy (3.6.2009)
  Chechen organisation banned by Russia wants to register in Finland (3.10.2007)

See also:
  Web operator: Chechen web pages were not illegal (20.10.2004)

Links:
  Interview from 2005 with Mikael Storsjö (SixDegrees

Helsingin Sanomat