INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Fan ID system allows visiting fans to move freely between host cities for the matches (representational)Saint Petersburg:
A small number of migrants have used Russia's World Cup ticketing system that allows visa-free travel for foreign fans to try to
enter the European Union illegally, with neighbouring Belarus and Finland reporting cases.Moscow has implemented a Fan ID system that
exempts visiting fans from Russia's strict visa system and allows them to move freely between host cities for the tournament between June 15
and July 15. Belarus, which signed an agreement with Russia allowing Fan ID holders to transit the country without a visa, said it had
stopped four Moroccans and an unspecified number of Pakistanis as they tried to enter the European Union illegally across borders with
Lithuania and Poland."More 'illegals' have entered Belarus under the guise of football fans," Andrey Sytenkov, an investigator with
Belarus's State Border Committee, said at a press conference in Minsk on Wednesday
The Moroccans are currently in temporary detention centres and face fines, deportation and a five-year ban on entering Belarus, he added
There was no word on the whereabouts of the Pakistani nationals.Sytenkov said the Belarusian border guard service "has information on groups
of pseudo-fans" on the country's Western borders. "We are ready for the fact that Europe will not accept them and will be sending them
back," he said. Similar cases have also been reported in Finland, an EU member that also shares a border with Russia. Finnish Border Guard
official Marko Saareks told AFP there have been three cases of people crossing the Russian-Finnish border and applying for asylum in Finland
after arriving in Russia with Fan IDs. "There is a threat of this kind of phenomenon," he said, adding "these kinds of illegal crossings
may go on until the end" of the World Cup. "They will not be deported to Russia immediately" since they asked for asylum in Finland, he
added. Last Friday, a Chinese citizen flew to Helsinki from Russia and applied for asylum after arriving in Russia with a World Cup Fan
ID.In another case on the same day, a Nigerian with a fake Brazilian passport tried to cross the Finnish border
He had earlier arrived in Russia with a Nigerian passport and a Fan ID
On Sunday, three Moroccan citizens with Fan IDs managed to cross the border illegally before being apprehended by border guards. Saareks
stressed that World Cup Fan IDs are not travel documents to the EU. All five men have applied for asylum and the Finnish Border Guard has
transferred their cases to the migration authorities.The Fan ID system, introduced at this World Cup, also serves as an additional security
measure, with Russian police conducting background checks with the help of their foreign counterparts. Nearly 500 people were denied Fan
IDs ahead of the tournament which is taking place in 11 cities across Russia, ending with the final in Moscow on July 15. (Except for the
headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
