Rae detention center pressure exposes gaps in state migration response
The extra burden on Rae municipality caused by migration pressure may become a symbol of the state's inability to cope with illegal migration, migration expert Kert Valdaru said.
Spots 
Illegal migrants who entered Estonia and were detained
Illegal migrants who entered Estonia and were detained have put pressure on Rae municipality's child protection workers, who must represent people in the local detention center who claim to be minors. Estonia has detained 269 illegal migrants this year, more than seventy of whom said they were minors. Later checks showed that only two were actually under 18.
Valdaru said the situation around the detention center
Valdaru said the situation around the detention center shows how the state shifts its responsibilities onto the municipality without providing enough resources.
Rae municipality's detention center may become a symbol
Rae municipality's detention center may become a symbol that the state cannot handle migration. I think it is absurd that the detention center is a state institution, but suddenly the municipality is told to go there and take care of things, Valdaru said.
Figuratively speaking, a state high school is built
Figuratively speaking, a state high school is built, children arrive in September, and then the state calls the municipality and says, send teachers here to teach. The state must take greater responsibility for dealing with unaccompanied minors in the Rae detention center and provide better resources to the municipality to cover the costs, Valdaru added.
Tartu City Council member Sandra Laur said illegal
Tartu City Council member Sandra Laur said illegal border crossers place an unreasonable burden on the municipality's social system.
In Rae municipality, these minor cases already make
In Rae municipality, these minor cases already make up one-third of child protection specialists' workload. Instead of dealing with our own people, we have to care for and feed them at a time when our own residents are struggling with the cost of living, Laur said.
Narva City Council member and former interior minister
Narva City Council member and former interior minister Katri Raik noted that the only current detention center is overloaded and under pressure.
We have one detention center in Rae municipality
We have one detention center in Rae municipality and it is overcrowded. Do we actually need to expand its capacity, Raik asked. The question remains what the municipality's obligation is and whether the state is honest and gentlemanly enough to reimburse the municipality afterward, because hybrid attacks have become part of our daily lives, Raik added. At the same time, Raik said she does not see expanding the detention center to Narva as a realistic option.
Police and Border Guard Board Deputy Director General
Police and Border Guard Board Deputy Director General Veiko Kommusaar said the state is doing everything it can to curb migration pressure coming from Latvia, but fully closing the Estonia–Latvia border is not a solution.
News
Rae detention center pressure exposes gaps in state migration response
The extra burden on Rae municipality caused by migration pressure may become a symbol of the state's inability to cope with illegal migration, migration expert Kert Valdaru said.
@spots #europe
Source: ERR News