Finnish national public broadcaster YLE reports that Russian-speaking individuals are using social media to recruit drivers willing to do people-smuggling work from the Latvian border into EU territory. The scheme has strong parallels with the methods employed by people smugglers operating on the Latvia-Belarus border. Since September, YLE has been following a Russian-language Facebook website that offers various jobs in Europe and Finland, including car drivers. The work has primarily been human smuggling from Latvia to Germany and Poland, and through them to other EU countries.
Pressure on the Latvian border has been intense due to the state-supported people smuggling operation of the Lukashenko regime in Belarus. Lithuania and Poland have also experienced similar hybrid pressure. Finland is experiencing similar pressure on its border with Russia due to Moscow’s displeasure with Finnish NATO membership. As a result, Finland will close all but one of its checkpoints on its eastern border with Russia from midnight on Friday, with only one crossing point remaining open.

The Finnish Criminal Code stipulates that aiding illegal entry, assisting an individual in staying unlawfully within the country, or facilitating their transit constitutes criminal offences. Penalties for these offences range from imprisonment to fines, the severity of which depends on various factors such as the number of individuals involved, the presence of violence or coercion, and the harm inflicted upon the victims. Finland’s commitment to combating human smuggling extends beyond its borders. The country actively engages in international cooperation through collaboration with organisations like Europol and Interpol, as well as coordination with other European Union member states. These efforts aim to share crucial information, coordinate investigations, and collectively address the transnational nature of criminal networks involved in human smuggling. In the context of the asylum process, Finland, as an EU member state, adheres to EU regulations governing asylum seekers. While seeking asylum is a legal process, human smugglers may attempt to exploit this avenue for illegal entry.