Seeking asylum on children's bicycles

So I guess what they are really doing is charging every one the cost of a bicycle to cross the boarder. Almost sound like a bribe.

There is about 5,500 refugees and Norway has told them they will send them back for taking advantage of the legal loophole.

Being interesting how that works out. They are desperate people.

Agree joey. Apparenty the bikes don't come up to Norway's standards. I don't think we have regulations on a bike in Australia.

Thanks for this interesting thread, toetapping!

The loophole was created when the refugees discovered that the Norwegian-Russian border agreement mentions pedestrians and car drivers/passengers, while it forgets to include cyclists. It's now in the process of being amended, but until then, they may still arrive that way. However, the wave is subsiding. As of September, only 9 asylum seekers had arrived on a bicycle via Storskog in 2016.

And for the roadworthy standard of the bikes: Not only is the metal in the handle bars so soft that a strong person may bend it to any shape; there is no brake on the front wheel, which is a requirement for bikes used in Norway. So - because of the high cost of modifying them - they went to the scrap yard, were stripped and recycled (an appropriate word, perhaps?).

I must have expressed myself clumsily, toetapping ; between January and September, only 9 asylum seekers entered Norway from Russia. I have no figures for the last month, but it cannot be many, otherwise we would have heard about it.

...and regarding the border at Storskog: Here is what the Norwegian authorities have been up to lately!

thebarentsobserver.com/en/borders/2016/09/storskog-fence-built-few-centimeters-too-close-russia

At the bottom of the article, you may also read about the current development at the crossing station.