Police received a call at 12:04 on Thursday reporting that several foreign nationals might be inside an apartment building in Tallinn's Nõmme district, with grounds to suspect they had entered the country illegally, said Indrek Aru, head of the border guard bureau at the Northern Prefecture.

Patrol officers responded and went to verify the information. At the scene, police detained 12 people suspected of illegally entering Estonia. They were taken to a detention center for initial procedural steps.

The tip about the suspicious foreign nationals came from a local resident.

Police continue checking the surrounding area to determine whether more people may have been in the apartment. "If you notice groups of foreign nationals who appear lost, differ from typical tourists, or are engaged in suspicious activity, it is worth informing the police," Aru said.

"Migration pressure on Estonia has increased in recent days. Over the past week, such detentions have occurred daily. We expect the pressure to continue in the coming months," he added.

Police likely did not catch all migrants

Aru said on Thursday afternoon that the latest information suggests police did not apprehend all migrants involved in the incident.

"Later it became clear that more people had been there earlier. We detained 12 individuals, but the information keeps being updated. At the moment, there are indications that 15 to 19 people were present. Just as I was walking down the stairs a moment ago, I received word that three more people had been caught. We are doing everything we can to locate all of them," Aru said.

The individuals are likely of African origin — with indications pointing to Ethiopia and Somalia, the PPA representative added.

As this is a very recent case, the circumstances of how the migrants ended up in Nõmme are still being clarified.

"It is very difficult to find a common language with them. Our officers obviously do not speak Tigrinya. And even if some of them speak a little English, it does not always mean they are willing to cooperate. All conversations and clarifications still lie ahead," Aru said.

According to the PPA, this incident is part of the broader migration pressure that has hit Estonia in recent days.

"There is reason to believe this is not an isolated case. Rather, we see a general trend of increased illegal migration pressure toward Estonia. We see that people's real intention is not necessarily to come to Estonia, but to pass through," Aru said.

The PPA has been uncovering such cases every day for more than a week. "We now have over 20 cases, and a total of 81 people have been detained," Aru said.

No sign of slowing down

On Wednesday, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) said it has apprehended 63 migrants this week, with no sign that the influx is slowing. Most migrants are entering Estonia from the Latvia–Belarus border, and authorities do not expect the flow to stop before poorer autumn weather arrives.

Interior Minister Igor Taro said Belarus is behind the migration pressure, sending migrants to the Baltic states at Russia's encouragement.

PPA director Egert Belitšev added Wednesday that the focal point of hybrid warfare has shifted toward the Baltic states and Finland, as Poland–Lithuania and Poland–Germany border crossings have begun implementing additional controls.

"But we also see that this migration attack is not stopping. Today it is likely heavily influenced by the tightened controls introduced on the internal borders between Poland and Lithuania and between Poland and Germany, which has led smugglers to look for new channels to move foreign nationals within the European Union," Belitšev said.

According to Belitšev, the migration situation has worsened specifically this week, with 63 migrants detained — bringing the yearly total to 102, compared with 39 at the same time last year.

The arrival of such numbers of illegal migrants places additional strain not only on the PPA but also on the court system and local municipalities.

Article updated with latest information at 9 a.m. Friday

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