Estonia hands over first eight detained illegal migrants to Latvia

Estonia's Police and Border Guard Department transferred the first eight migrants illegally present in Estonia to Latvian border guards at the Ikla border crossing point on Wednesday. All eight are Ethiopian men who had remained in Estonia without legal basis after arriving from Belarus via Latvia.

The detainees told officials that their aim was to travel through Estonia to other Schengen area countries. None of them wanted to apply for international protection. One of the Ethiopians claimed to be a minor, but this could not be confirmed.

Indrek Aru, head of the border guard office at Estonia's Northern Prefecture, said Estonian police are in constant contact with their Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts. According to him, this year's migration pressure has further strengthened existing cooperation and has given all sides valuable experience in seeking quick joint solutions. "Our joint assessment is that migration pressure will not decrease in the near future. Together with our Baltic partners, we are ready to react quickly to constantly changing circumstances," Aru said.

Since July, police in Estonia have detained 99 foreign nationals linked to migration pressure on the Latvian border originating from Belarus. An agreement on the readmission of persons illegally staying in their territories has been in force between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania since 1995. Under it, foreign citizens who enter Estonia illegally from Latvia can be returned to Latvia.

Estonia this month sent its third ESTPOL unit of the year to Latvia for two weeks to assist in combating illegal migration on the border with Belarus. Latvia's government, meanwhile, extended the reinforced border guard regime on the Belarusian border until the end of the year.

Last year, Latvia's State Border Guard prevented 12,046 attempts to illegally cross the Belarus–Latvia border; this year, the number has already reached 9,174.