Finland’s Border Guard has published its annual crime-prevention bulletin, showing that organised criminal groups increasingly funnel irregular migrants into Finland across internal EU borders rather than at the country’s external frontier with Russia. According to the report, released on 5 March 2026, officers detected 71 suspected cases of organising illegal entry in 2025—three times the figure recorded five years ago. Roughly 70 % of the cases originated elsewhere in the Schengen Area: migrants first crossed the external border in Southern or Eastern Europe and were then transported north by car, ferry or short-haul flights before requesting asylum in Finland. The Border Guard believes the true scale is higher, estimating that at least 560 people entered Finland clandestinely via Sweden, Estonia or internal flights last year. Investigators highlighted several modus operandi. At Helsinki-Vantaa airport eight would-be passengers were caught using high-quality counterfeit Japanese and Hong Kong passports to board flights to Ireland and the United Kingdom; one case is now being prosecuted as aggravated human trafficking. On land routes, smugglers charged up to €10,000 per person, often leaving migrants indebted and vulnerable to exploitation.
![Finland Border Guard reveals surge in human-smuggling cases through intra-Schengen routes]()
For organisations managing legitimate staff relocations, the administrative maze can be just as challenging; VisaHQ’s Finland portal (https://www.visahq.com/finland/) provides a streamlined, end-to-end service for checking entry requirements, securing visas and tracking applications, helping HR teams stay compliant while avoiding costly delays.
Commanding Officer Juho Vanhatalo warned that debt bondage can push victims into forced labour, prostitution or petty crime once in Finland. The findings underscore the growing importance of secondary movements within Schengen and the difficulty of policing them when internal border checks are largely absent. The Border Guard is calling for closer intelligence sharing with counterparts in Sweden, Estonia and Germany, and for carriers to step up document screening on intra-EU flights. For employers and relocation managers the message is clear: expect tighter scrutiny of identity documents and travel histories when arranging moves for non-EU employees, and budget extra time for airport checks. From a policy perspective, the data will feed into the Ministry of the Interior’s forthcoming review of Finland’s Aliens Act, which is expected to propose stiffer penalties for aggravated smuggling and greater powers for police to verify identities away from the border. Companies moving staff into Finland should monitor the legislative timetable and prepare compliance briefings for assignees arriving via other EU capitals.
For organisations managing legitimate staff relocations, the administrative maze can be just as challenging; VisaHQ’s Finland portal (https://www.visahq.com/finland/) provides a streamlined, end-to-end service for checking entry requirements, securing visas and tracking applications, helping HR teams stay compliant while avoiding costly delays.
Commanding Officer Juho Vanhatalo warned that debt bondage can push victims into forced labour, prostitution or petty crime once in Finland. The findings underscore the growing importance of secondary movements within Schengen and the difficulty of policing them when internal border checks are largely absent. The Border Guard is calling for closer intelligence sharing with counterparts in Sweden, Estonia and Germany, and for carriers to step up document screening on intra-EU flights. For employers and relocation managers the message is clear: expect tighter scrutiny of identity documents and travel histories when arranging moves for non-EU employees, and budget extra time for airport checks. From a policy perspective, the data will feed into the Ministry of the Interior’s forthcoming review of Finland’s Aliens Act, which is expected to propose stiffer penalties for aggravated smuggling and greater powers for police to verify identities away from the border. Companies moving staff into Finland should monitor the legislative timetable and prepare compliance briefings for assignees arriving via other EU capitals.
