One more person was apprehended on the same day and for the same reason, amid a recent rise in the number of people recorded entering Estonia without the required documentation.

Raavo Järva, head of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) North Prefecture Tallinn border checkpoint said officers on patrol had been following up a tip-off when attending the Estonian Islamic Center and prayer hall on Keevise tänav, where they found six people who did not have the necessary documents for staying in the country.

The six were taken to a detention center for further processing. "As a next step, we will establish the foreigners' countries of origin and the circumstances in which they entered Estonia," Järva said.

The seventh person who had entered Estonia illegally was detained on Suur-Laagri Street in the Kalamaja neighborhood at around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Järva noted that police are continuing stepped-up checks due to the recent rise in cases of illegal immigration. "We have deployed additional personnel at ports and airports and are also closely monitoring the situation elsewhere. We are working closely with our colleagues in Latvia and other neighboring countries and exchanging information promptly," Järva said.

A large proportion of the cases identified in recent weeks have been linked to migration pressure originating from people entering the EU at the border between Belarus and Latvia. In several cases, entrants have moved from Latvia northward to Estonia and in some cases attempted to board ferries at the Old City Harbor.

The PPA has handed over to Latvia a total of 29 foreigners who entered Estonia illegally so far.

The detention center the seven people apprehended on Wednesday were sent to currently houses 115 foreign nationals.

A border guard spokesperson said last Friday that authorities had detained 109 foreign nationals since July 21, around half of whom claimed to be unaccompanied minors.

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