Estonia's irregular border crossings almost halved in 2024

Estonia's irregular border crossings dropped by 43 percent last year, data from the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) show. The figures are in line with the European Union-wide trend but are significantly lower than in countries closer to home.
Eerik Purgel, the head of the border guard office of the eastern prefecture, told ERR News the number of "illegal" border crossings on the land border between Estonia and Russia has fallen.
"For example, if in 2023 the border guards discovered 46 people illegally crossing the border in the area between the border points, then last year the border guards caught a total of 25 people," he said.
"The reason for the decrease in border incidents is that for some time, Estonia has been building border infrastructure, as well as the daily work of border guards, modern surveillance equipment and better equipment than before."
Of the 25 people who crossed into Estonia, 17 were from India and eight from Russia.
In 2023, those caught came from Afghanistan (13), Russia (9), India (8), Cuba (8), Tajikistan (3), Bangladesh (2), Azerbaijan (1), Syria (1), and Tunisia (1).
Between 2020 and 2022 there were 6, 10 and 13 irregular crossings reported each year respectively.

Data from Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, released this week shows Estonia's drop is in line with the wider European trend.
The agency said overall there was a 38 percent drop in irregular border crossings at Europe's external borders in 2024 "with just over 239,000 detections recorded." This is the lowest number since 2021.
But the trend did not hit every part of the bloc equally.
While arrivals to the "Central Mediterranean route" (Italy) and "Western Balkan" route fell by 59 percent and 78 percent respectively, the "Eastern Borders route" – Belarus' border with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania – saw a 192 percent increase.
Frontex said there were 17,001 incidents recorded on the "Eastern Borders route" between January and December 2024. The majority of arrivals were from Ukraine, Ethiopia and Somalia.
The PPA said Poland and Latvia were at the forefront. Last summer, the agency sent several team of officers to assist on the Latvian-Belarusian border.
The "Eastern Borders route" is one of the less preferred routes into the European Union. Arrivals were more than three times higher in the central and eastern Mediterranean and English Channel.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Michael Cole