Border guard arrested several groups of Vietnamese and Iraqi citizens

Photo – LETA / Zane Bitere

Despite the fact that border guards of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus are actively taking steps to prevent the illegal crossing of the border and regularly report attempts to cross the border illegally, the number of illegal border crossings detected by the National Border Guard (VR) is increasing. Several groups of Vietnamese citizens have been arrested in recent weeks and this year the second largest number of Iraqi citizens has been informed by Kristin Pētersone, Chief Inspector of the Strategic Development and Public Relations Department of the Directorate General VR. The risk of illegal migration is also the World Football Championship taking place in Russia on July 15th. This risk will persist even after the end of the World Football Championship. In addition, forecasts of the use of this measure for illegal immigration in the countries of the European Union were approved.

During the last month of VR, 15 third-country nationals were identified and returned to Russia (Senegal, Morocco, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana, Bangladesh) who use customized visitor documents for the World Cup (FAN ID Card) as an entry visa to enter the Russian Federation, while continuing to attempt illegally to enter the European Union through fake Schengen visas or residence permits. It should be noted that similar cases have been detected by Lithuanian, Estonian and Finnish colleagues, and that more than 150 illegal immigrants from third countries have been prevented from entering the European Union, added Mr Petersone.