Flow of Refugees Via Russia to Norway Dries Up in Recent Weeks

Pal Nesse, a senior adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said that the border between Russia and Norway is still open but since Norway decided to deport any people who crossed into the country using that route, migrants were opting to cross into Finland instead.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova — In recent weeks there have been no migrant crossing through Russia into Norway, Pal Nesse, a senior adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"In recent weeks, there has been zero crossings into Norway from the Russian territory," he said.

Nesse added that the border between the two states is still open but since Norway decided to deport any people who crossed into the country using that route, migrants were opting to cross into Finland instead.

Norway has repeatedly stated that majority of the 5,500 migrants who crossed into Norway from Russia in 2015, most of whom were originally from the Middle Eastern, will be deported back across the border.

In January, some 70 refugees who were expecting deportation from Norway to Russia, went on hunger strike, protesting against the transfer. Despite the threats, bus carrying refugees, departed the Norwegian refugee camp, taking the migrants to Russia.

Last week, police in Norway’s northeastern Finnmark county and the Russian border service agreed to return migrants arriving in Norway through the Arctic Circle Storskog crossing back to Russia by bus instead of bicycles during winter. Thirteen such individuals were deported from Norway to Russia on Tuesday.