Arrangement of Illegal Immigration at the Northern Borders of Finland

Abstract

The aim of this article is to evaluate the extent to which the 2015 migration crisis has led to criminal processes for arrangement of illegal immigration in northern Finland. Arrangement of illegal immigration refers to actions by which a person brings or attempts to bring to Finland a foreigner who does not meet the requirements for entry into the country. While acting on humanitarian motives does not meet the legal definition of arrangement of illegal immigration, not all acts of bringing asylum seekers to Finland are considered as being committed for humanitarian purposes. Even if, taken together, the acts of arrangement of illegal immigration committed at the abovementioned borders may seem quite minor in scope and unorganized by nature, they cannot be considered in complete isolation from organized, large-scale smuggling of migrants – which they may, either intentionally or unintentionally, promote.