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Russian taxi drivers facing visa restrictions from Norway amid Syrian refugee crisis

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Taxi drivers in Russia's Murmansk Oblast reported Thursday that Norwegian border guards have threatened to deny entry visas to drivers suspected of carrying Syrian refugees.

"While warnings remain informal, many taxi drivers are now refusing to carry Syrians to the Norwegian border," said a spokesman for a local taxi firm in Murmansk.

More than 100 Syrians are believed to have crossed into Norway through Murmansk in the past year. The country has an established policy of accepting all Syrians as refugees.

Due to friendly relations between the Russian and Syrian governments, many Syrians have made the trip north to Murmansk by train after arriving in Moscow legally on tourist or student visas.

Several Syrians in Murmansk claimed that the "Russian route" was a cheaper and safer way of getting to Europe than the Mediterranean routes which have become the focus of worldwide attention in recent weeks. Endit