SIX PEOPLE FOUND HIDING INSIDE CAR AT HELSINKI PORT

Finnish Border Guard officers discovered six people hidden inside a car at the Port of Helsinki, after the vehicle arrived from Tallinn on Sunday, 6 September.

According to the Border Guard, five of the people were Eritrean nationals and one was Moroccan. The individuals were found concealed inside the vehicle during an inspection at the port. The car had arrived in Finland on a ferry from Tallinn, Estonia. The driver, a foreign national, was arrested after the incident.

The Helsinki District Court later detained the driver on suspicion of helping people enter Finland illegally. Part of a wider migration route The Border Guard said the incident appears to be connected to a wider pattern in which people who have entered the Schengen area through Belarus are transported through different European countries towards other destinations.

Finnish authorities have been paying increased attention to movement through the Baltic region. Last month, the Border Guard announced plans to send a patrol to Tallinn's port and airport to help prevent people who have entered the region illegally from continuing their journey to Finland and other European countries. Authorities are continuing to investigate the Helsinki port case.