Finnish border guards detain 11 Iranian nationals suspected of illegal crossing attempt

Border authorities in Southeastern Finland detained 11 people on suspicion of attempting to enter the country illegally on January 12.

The suspects, believed to be Iranian nationals, were attempting to cross from Russia into Finland near the city of Lappeenranta, between the Nuijamaa border checkpoint and the town of Joutseno, YLE reports.

The group was travelling together and they all submitted asylum applications following their detainment.

Heikki Ahtiainen, Deputy Commander of the Southeastern Finland Border Guard, noted that members of the group said they were provided with assistance on the Russian side of the border to facilitate their journey to Finland.

"We do not know the identity of the people providing this assistance. As preliminary investigation authorities, we are interested to know who is providing it in the hope that we can catch them," Ahtiainen said.

The Finnish Border Guard has opened a preliminary investigation into the incident, carried out in cooperation with Russian border authorities.

Ahtiainen noted that the Russian side has been willing to cooperate in the probe.

"The Finnish and Russian border commissioners met yesterday to discuss the matter in detail," he said.

Thursday's incident followed a similar attempt by four men to enter Finland near the border town of Parikkala earlier this week.

That group was detained by Finnish authorities and they also applied for asylum.

Finland shut all eight checkpoints along its eastern frontier with Russia in December, amid suspicions that Russian authorities were deliberately funneling undocumented asylum seekers to Finnish checkpoints.

Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) announced earlier this week that the checkpoints will remain closed until at least February 14, noting that the situation at the border had not changed as migrants have been seen on the Russian side, apparently waiting for the crossing point to open.