Why have hundreds of refugees decided to try entering the E.U. through Russia?

A Syrian asylum seeker shares his story

On November 30, Finland completely closed its border with Russia, attributing the decision to the sharp increase in the flow of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. Some of the refugees planning to request asylum in Finland were detained in Russia’s Karelia and Murmansk regions and placed in temporary detention centers for foreigners. Another 200 people, according to the Murmansk regional authorities, were sent on buses to St. Petersburg in late November. The majority of the refugees may be deported from Russia. The St. Petersburg outlet Bumaga spoke with a Syrian man, who is facing deportation back to his home country, to learn why he and hundreds of other refugees are trying to enter Finland through Russia, despite the challenging relationship between Russia and the E.U. since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With Bumaga’s permission, Meduza is publishing the text in full.

On attempting to reach Finland

I’m from Syria. I’m 28 years old. I studied engineering for six years in Damascus, graduating from one of the best universities in the country. But the war in Syria isn’t easing up, and Israel is constantly attacking. I decided to leave home to search for work.

Two and a half months ago, I got to Russia on a tourist visa. But the laws in Russia are strict, there’s no asylum here. [In November,] I decided to travel to Finland, to look for work in Europe. I just want to work so I can help my family.

At first, I reached St. Petersburg from Moscow. Then, I paid an Asian man $100 and travelled with him to the Salla border crossing [in the Murmansk region.] No one sent me to this driver, I found him myself.

But 200 kilometers (around 124 miles) from the border crossing, Russian security officials stopped us and told us we have to turn back because the crossing was closed. I’ll tell you the truth: the security officials treated us with respect and said they didn’t want us to put ourselves at risk. It was very cold there, we could’ve died in the freezing cold. The Russian police worried about us, when we weren’t worried for ourselves.

When I was going back, the driver said the Russian security forces gave us $200 to return [to St. Petersburg]. We didn’t reach Finland and spent over 20 hours in the car — it was exhausting.

I believe that Finland’s statements [that Russia is artificially creating a migrant crisis] aren’t accurate. After all, the security officers stopped me. But I think that if I insisted on driving further toward Finland, then the Russian police and army would have let me.

If the flow of migrants from Russia had a negative influence on Europe, then Russia would’ve been forcing people to enter Europe by the thousands, but it’s not doing that. There’s a political formula that we wouldn’t understand. This state politics, we don’t know where we’ll end up. We’re the victims of the political relationship between Europe and Russia. But Europe is driving us out.

On deportation and Syria

After the border, I went to Moscow, went to a migration service and said that I wanted to leave. The problem is that my tourist visa expired two weeks ago. And I understood: if the police catch me, I’ll be arrested and sent to a deportation center.

When I was summoned to the [Gagarinsky District] Court [on November 27], I told the judge: “I need time to be able to leave Russia.” But I didn’t say where I was planning to go. I was given a notice to leave the country in 15 days. I have now appealed the decision and am waiting for the court’s response. After all, I’m an educated person and I know how this all works legally.

If Russia lets me, I’ll stay here. Though when I asked my lawyer about applying for asylum in Russia, he told me it’s impossible. So I never figured out how to apply and where to go.

If I’m deported to Syria, then I’ll lose my life and my family. My family lives in Damascus. Father, mother, and siblings.

If I return to my country, then I won’t be able to work, because I’ll go to the army and I’ll earn $20 per month. I won’t even have enough money for clothing, I won’t be able to get married and have a family. I have to help my parents and siblings, send them money for education. The situation in Syria is worse than you can imagine.

In Syria, a visa costs a person the price of their house. If they have a house…So you can imagine how hard it is [to get a visa to Russia].

The people who send out invitations [for visas] are Arabs who live here [in Russia]. They’re taking advantage of the people in Syria. Most of those who talk about wanting to “help” just want money. Arabs living in Russia exploit people from Syria and other countries, forcing them to pay for accommodations and translation [of documents into Russian]. They charge over $600 for filing an asylum application. You know, humanity buried itself a long time ago and there’s nothing left of it.

On the reason refugees went to the Finnish border

I didn’t try going to Belarus. My friends who’ve been there said that it’s a catastrophic situation, that people can’t enter Poland and Latvia and that the Belarusian army sends them back to the border with Russia. I don’t think that Belarus will put up with the influx of migrants and refugees.

I know someone who went missing for 15 days. Believe it or not, he came from Saudi Arabia, traveled to Latvia, and lost contact. Then, someone found him in the forest in Belarus. The problem is that Latvian border guards sometimes beat refugees, electrocute them, and break their phones [Bumaga notes that torture by the Latvian authorities has been confirmed by Amnesty International’s report]. Then, refugees are dumped into the forest in the direction of Belarus where they’re lost for several days because they don’t have phones. You can only find your way out with the help of a map.

The Belarusian government doesn’t allow refugees into the forest, and the police catch them. But this is hindered by smugglers who can transport people through the forests to Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania. But actually, when people enter the forest, that’s when the suffering begins.

That’s exactly why some refugees went to the Russia-Finland border. They thought that it’d be easier and safer to apply for asylum there than in Belarus.

Text by Bumaga

Translation by Sasha Slobodov