Moscow market closures prompt Afghans to leave for Finland
Afghan asylum-seekers cross into Finland through the wilds
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By Juhani Saarinen
According to the Finnish Border Guard, movements on the eastern frontier have this year been exceptionally persistent. Afghans attempting to cross the border from Russia into Finland illegally are a phenomenon that has not been seen previously in the current decade.
A tightly guarded border is an obstacle to the free movement of newcomers. However, such tight surveillance does not bother Afghans, who actually would like to be caught by the authorities - but only after they are on the Finnish side of the border.
If they get caught on the Russian side they could get a prison sentence, while in Finland they will have an opportunity to apply for asylum.
A few years ago, a large number of Moldovans tried to get over the border, while at the same time trying to avoid the Finnish authorities. Their goal was to travel through Finland to some other European countries.
Afghan-born Abdullah Haidary recalls a day last April when he three of his fellow countrymen were wandering somewhere in the Russian border zone. The Karelian forests were an unfamiliar place for an Afghan.
”We did not see any animals, only tracks left by them. People say that there are bears in that area”, Haidary says.
The men, who were carrying a compass and a map, had been given vague instructions. They had been informed of a place 12 kilometres away from the border.
Haidary’s destination was Finland.
In 2009, a total of 21 Afghans
have entered Southeastern Finland without permission, while the number of those Afghans who have attempted to cross into Finland is higher: Russian border guards have detained nearly 200 Afghans trying to enter Finland.
Today, Haidary and another Afghan Hadi Mohammad live in Punkaharju, where they study the Finnish language and culture at Itä-Karjalan Kansanopisto, a "folk high school" or adult education institute, some 30 kilometres east of Savonlinna. They have applied for asylum in Finland.
The men’s story is characteristic of Afghan asylum-seekers: life in Afghanistan became too dangerous, they lost their jobs in Moscow, whereupon they made for Finland.
Haidary says that he is 32 years old and used to work as a headmaster at a school for girls in Ghazni City in Central Afghanistan.
He has a wedding band in his ring finger, and his hair has a touch of grey.
He believed that he was no longer safe, as girls’ schools were not accepted by the Taleban and because he had been cooperating with the US troops in the area.
He knew some Afghans who promised him that there would be work in Moscow. Haidary’s wife and two sons remained at home.
At the same time, Hadi Mohammad had again ended up in Moscow. He had already once left Russia, but some difficulties at home in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province made him return to Moscow where he found work.
According to Mohammad, life was difficult as some of the markets favoured by Afghans had been closed and they had to avoid the authorities.
”If I had been caught by police, I would have been deported as I did not have a residence permit”, Mohammad says.
Mohammad reports further that in March he and two other Afghans came to St. Petersburg, took a taxi and travelled one or two hours towards Finland and then continued on foot.
On a frosty night they marched through the forests until they found themselves on the Finnish side of the border.
”It took us an hour to find any border guards. We needed help as my friend had hurt his foot. And we were terribly hungry”, Mohammad recalled.
Even Haidary had had to discover that the promises about work in Moscow did not materialise.
In four months, Haidary had spent all his savings. He decided to leave for Finland, as it was the easiest route to Europe.
”I did not notice when we crossed the border, but when we saw licence plates and traffic signs we realised that we were in Finland”, Haidary concluded.
According to the Finnish Border Guard, there are signs suggesting that these attempts by Afghans to enter Finland are organised.
According to Colonel Pasi Kostamovaara, the Commander of the Southeast Finland Border Guard District, Finland apparently has a good reputation in the Afghan community.
However, the Afghan men deny that their trip had been organised. They say that they had just got some tips from other Afghans who had attempted to cross into Finland but who had been caught on the Russian side of the border.
”They said that it is possible to cross the border but they had just had bad luck”, Haidary says.
Like Mohammad, Haidary would also like to study and work in Finland. He also wishes that his family could be allowed to enter the country.
”If there were peace in Afghanistan, I would never have even thought about Finland”, Haidary says.
A number of Afghans have also come to Finland using other routes.
By the end of September, a total of 330 asylum-seekers of Afghan origin had entered the country. By comparison, the total number of Afghan arrivals in 2008 was 254.
It is the authorities’ duty to decide whether or not the applicant’s story holds true and whether he or she needs protection.
With regard to Afghans, there is no common policy: a total of 58 Afghans have been granted asylum in 2009, while a total of 83 applications have been rejected.
Most of the rejections have resulted from the fact that the application in question will have to be handled in some other European country, in line with the Dublin Regulation, which states that the country that a person first arrived in is responsible for dealing with the asylum request.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.10.2009
According to the Finnish Border Guard, movements on the eastern frontier have this year been exceptionally persistent. Afghans attempting to cross the border from Russia into Finland illegally are a phenomenon that has not been seen previously in the current decade.
A tightly guarded border is an obstacle to the free movement of newcomers. However, such tight surveillance does not bother Afghans, who actually would like to be caught by the authorities - but only after they are on the Finnish side of the border.
If they get caught on the Russian side they could get a prison sentence, while in Finland they will have an opportunity to apply for asylum.
A few years ago, a large number of Moldovans tried to get over the border, while at the same time trying to avoid the Finnish authorities. Their goal was to travel through Finland to some other European countries.
Afghan-born Abdullah Haidary recalls a day last April when he three of his fellow countrymen were wandering somewhere in the Russian border zone. The Karelian forests were an unfamiliar place for an Afghan.
”We did not see any animals, only tracks left by them. People say that there are bears in that area”, Haidary says.
The men, who were carrying a compass and a map, had been given vague instructions. They had been informed of a place 12 kilometres away from the border.
Haidary’s destination was Finland.
In 2009, a total of 21 Afghans
have entered Southeastern Finland without permission, while the number of those Afghans who have attempted to cross into Finland is higher: Russian border guards have detained nearly 200 Afghans trying to enter Finland.
Today, Haidary and another Afghan Hadi Mohammad live in Punkaharju, where they study the Finnish language and culture at Itä-Karjalan Kansanopisto, a "folk high school" or adult education institute, some 30 kilometres east of Savonlinna. They have applied for asylum in Finland.
The men’s story is characteristic of Afghan asylum-seekers: life in Afghanistan became too dangerous, they lost their jobs in Moscow, whereupon they made for Finland.
Haidary says that he is 32 years old and used to work as a headmaster at a school for girls in Ghazni City in Central Afghanistan.
He has a wedding band in his ring finger, and his hair has a touch of grey.
He believed that he was no longer safe, as girls’ schools were not accepted by the Taleban and because he had been cooperating with the US troops in the area.
He knew some Afghans who promised him that there would be work in Moscow. Haidary’s wife and two sons remained at home.
At the same time, Hadi Mohammad had again ended up in Moscow. He had already once left Russia, but some difficulties at home in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province made him return to Moscow where he found work.
According to Mohammad, life was difficult as some of the markets favoured by Afghans had been closed and they had to avoid the authorities.
”If I had been caught by police, I would have been deported as I did not have a residence permit”, Mohammad says.
Mohammad reports further that in March he and two other Afghans came to St. Petersburg, took a taxi and travelled one or two hours towards Finland and then continued on foot.
On a frosty night they marched through the forests until they found themselves on the Finnish side of the border.
”It took us an hour to find any border guards. We needed help as my friend had hurt his foot. And we were terribly hungry”, Mohammad recalled.
Even Haidary had had to discover that the promises about work in Moscow did not materialise.
In four months, Haidary had spent all his savings. He decided to leave for Finland, as it was the easiest route to Europe.
”I did not notice when we crossed the border, but when we saw licence plates and traffic signs we realised that we were in Finland”, Haidary concluded.
According to the Finnish Border Guard, there are signs suggesting that these attempts by Afghans to enter Finland are organised.
According to Colonel Pasi Kostamovaara, the Commander of the Southeast Finland Border Guard District, Finland apparently has a good reputation in the Afghan community.
However, the Afghan men deny that their trip had been organised. They say that they had just got some tips from other Afghans who had attempted to cross into Finland but who had been caught on the Russian side of the border.
”They said that it is possible to cross the border but they had just had bad luck”, Haidary says.
Like Mohammad, Haidary would also like to study and work in Finland. He also wishes that his family could be allowed to enter the country.
”If there were peace in Afghanistan, I would never have even thought about Finland”, Haidary says.
A number of Afghans have also come to Finland using other routes.
By the end of September, a total of 330 asylum-seekers of Afghan origin had entered the country. By comparison, the total number of Afghan arrivals in 2008 was 254.
It is the authorities’ duty to decide whether or not the applicant’s story holds true and whether he or she needs protection.
With regard to Afghans, there is no common policy: a total of 58 Afghans have been granted asylum in 2009, while a total of 83 applications have been rejected.
Most of the rejections have resulted from the fact that the application in question will have to be handled in some other European country, in line with the Dublin Regulation, which states that the country that a person first arrived in is responsible for dealing with the asylum request.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 18.10.2009
JUHANI SAARINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
juhani.saarinen@hs.fi