Internal security 2016
Internal security 2016 04 08 12 16 18 20 24 30 32
It is safe to live in Estonia Safer communities Ensuring more efficient rescue capability More secure and faster organisation of assistance Prevention of crises and increasing preparedness for emergencies Increasing internal security A balanced citizenship and migration policy Reliable and secure identity management More efficient border management
3
It is safe to live in Estonia 4
89%
find that Estonia is a safe country to live in
96%
have trust in the work of the Rescue Board
91%
86%
highly appreciate the work of Police and Border Guard Board
Out of 26 institutions, Estonians have most trust in the Rescue Board, the Emergency Response Centre and the Police and Border Guard Board.
We are happy that the residents of Estonia feel that it is safe to live in Estonia.
94% find their home neighbourhood safe
have confidence in the Emergency Response Centre
The public opinion survey conducted in May 2016 showed that 89% of Estonian residents found Estonia a safe country to live in. The satisfaction has broadly remained at the same level as the figure was 89% in 2014 and 92% in 2015. Public trust in the authorities ensuring internal security continues to be very high.
5
Less crime from year to year
Estonian people think the biggest threats are... ... domestic violence 69% ... thefts 49% ... street crime 43% ... violence in public space 26%
In 2016, the number of registered crimes in Estonia was 28,986 - down by a tenth from the previous year. This decrease mainly comes from the decrease in crimes against property. However, both traffic and narcotics related offences were also less frequent. In 2016, the number of manslaughters and murders was smaller by six victims than in 2015.
(People’s sense of threats – Internal Security Strategy trend survey 2016, Ministry of the Interior)
Unfortunately, the number of deaths from injury was higher than expected.
Crimes and deaths due to injury Number of registered crimes
2015 2016
32,575 28,986
(Source: Ministry of Justice)
Number of deaths from injury (traffic, fire, drowning, narcotics, manslaughters, murders)
2015 2016 (Sources: Police and Border Guard Board, Rescue Board, Estonian Forensic Science Institute)
6
289 272
Estonian Internal Security Strategy for 2015-2020
co-ordination of internal security activities
implementation of activities via eight large-scale programmes
determining the possibilities, the areas of responsibility and the points of co-operation in the domain
373 million euros
the budget of the Ministry of the Interior’s area of government in 2016
forms 1.7% of the GDP of Estonia
includes 37 million from external funds and state co-financing
This publication presents the main achievements of 2016 in every area.
7
Safer communities
8
The best way to avoid accidents is to have the capability to prevent them. Today volunteers are changing and safeguarding our communities with an increasing contribution from year to year. We are changing and safeguarding our communities today, while also boldly contributing to the future – a new generation to uphold security is growing.
As residents
As volunteers
Estonian residents feel that the safety of their home neighbourhoods is mostly secured by the patrolling police officers (95%) and security cameras (94%). However, 82% also place importance on the activities of the volunteer associations of local communities. In 2016, security councils were established in every county in Estonia, bringing together representatives from various areas to discuss ways to make their community safer.
•
110,895 hours: the volume of assistant police officers participating in police work. The volume of 2015 got exceeded by more than a quarter in 2016.
•
Total volunteer contributors to security: 1,959 rescue volunteers, 114 volunteer rescue crews, 4 reserve rescue teams.
•
4,372 rescue operations with volunteer involvement (900 operations more than in 2015).
•
There was also a 57% increase in maritime rescue volunteers compared to 2015. We now have another 136 recognised maritime rescue volunteers and the total number of Estonian maritime rescue volunteers has now risen to 373.
•
Confidence in assistant police officers, rescue volunteers, neighbourhood watch and maritime rescue volunteers is remarkably high – more than 80% of people have expressed confidence toward all three.
•
Most important reasons for volunteering for internal security, are the desire to be useful to the community and to the society and the interest in such activities (for 89% of people); the desire to obtain new knowledge, skills and experience (for 85% of people).
In 2016, 45% of people personally participated in volunteer activities realated internal security events. However, only about a third (32%) of the population supported the idea of people themselves actively participating in ensuring security, law enforcement and rescue operations in their local neighbourhoods.
Rescue operations, in which volunteer rescue crews were involved (Source: Rescue Board)
4,372
3,451 1,941
585
789
996
1,049
1,258
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
9
People’s confidence in volunteers Confidence in
2016
2017 objective
2018 objective
2019 objective
2020 objective
- neighbourhood watch,
(87,2%)
90%
90%
90%
90%
- rescue volunteers,
(89,2%)
90%
90%
90%
90%
- maritime rescue volunteers,
(82,5%)
85%
85%
85%
85%
- assistant police officers
(85,6%)
90%
90%
90%
90%
(Ministry of the Interior, Internal Security Strategy trend survey 2017)
As preventers In 2016, Estonia completed a universal prevention concept covering activities in social, education, public health and internal security areas. The state also launched and continued with several new evidence based programmes:
SPIN is a football based involvement programme which was created in England following the example of Kickz. The aim of the programme is to help prevent the social exclusion of 10-18-year old young people in risk groups, and to promote active attitudes to life among them.
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STEP helps young people with an offence background to get involved in the labour market.
Under Rehabilitation Programme, the police can refer motor vehicle drivers who have exceeded the alcohol limit to an educational or counselling programme.
Tark Vanem (WiseParent) is a parent education programme which includes an online environment where parents can find advice and tips on talking to their children about addictive substances or relationships.
VEPA is a behavioural skills game held at schools to create a positive atmosphere in the classroom and teach children to notice the good in each other.
KiVa is an evidence based programme to prevent school bullying, originally developed in Finland. The proportion of bullying victims has now dropped from 21.5% to 15.3% in those Estonian schools where the programme has been implemented for four years.
MARAC is a case management model for young people and families suffering from domestic violence.
STEP, SPIN, VEPA and MARAC are co-financed by the European Social Fund.
As the creators of the new generation For seven years, the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences has carried out the elective course of Internal Defence Studies at Estonian upper-secondary schools. In 2016, the course was held in 9 regions and in 12 upper-secondary schools. In total, 268 students participated in the academic year of 2015/2016 and 362 students in the academic year of 2016/2017.
“The topics related to the society are becoming increasingly dear to me – for instance, how cities and rural municipalities can together support the development of communities and volunteer activities; how everyone together with their friends can create the Estonia they like. Without damaging anyone else’s Estonia in the process.” Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia Estonian Public Broadcasting, 27 December, 2016
Every year, a considerable percentage of admission applications to the Academy of Security Sciences comes from the schools where Internal Defence Studies are conducted.
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Ensuring more efficient rescue capability 12
Number of deaths from accidents on decline Within 10 years, the number of people dying from fires has diminished four times. Ten years ago 12.6 people per 100,000 died due to fire in Estonia, the figure in 2016 was 2.6. This is significant, as a comparison of data shows that a decrease in residential building fires has had a direct impact on the decrease in fire deaths. In 2016, 1,399 fires took place in residential buildings which is 211 fewer fires than in 2015.
In 2016, 0,6 fires took place in residental buildings per 1000 inhabitants. We are on the same level as the Nordic countries (0,65) in that regard.
The number of deaths from water accidents exceeded the figures of the preceding two years – 39 cases in 2015 and 45 in 2016. But in general, death by drowning is also on decline.
Number of fires in 2010–2016
Prevention (media campaigns, home visits, water safety stands, etc.) has played an important role in reducing the number of deaths due to fires and water accidents. In 2016: 17,071 fire safety consultations were held, from which 1,525 were conducted by rescue volunteers. Rescue Board checked fire safety on 4,900 sites.
8,000 7,000
6,871 6,439
6,321 5,745
6,000 4,973
5,000
Number of deaths due to accident
5,516 4,925
Number of deaths due to fire Total number of fires in residential buildings Number of deaths due to drowning in water accidents
4,000 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2014
2015
2016
54
50
38
1,833
1,610
1,399
68
39
45
(Source: Rescue Board)
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Number of rescue events 20,000 15,000
13,122
14,879
14,136
14,642
16,081
10,000 5,000 0 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
383 people were rescued in various rescue events. The number of rescued people increased considerably from the previous year, with the number of people rescued from water accidents increasing the most. The number of rescue events has remained relatively stable in the recent years. Compared to 2015, the number of rescue events grew by a tenth, this being mostly due to an increase in traffic accidents and events caused by forces of nature. Rescue Board continued developing maritime rescue capabilitiesin 2016. Maritime rescue capabilities are now established amongst 15 crews. Six fully equipped new rescue jet kits were procured and given to the rescue crews at Kihelkonna, Tõstamaa, Keila, Muuga, Kunda and Jõhvi. Rescue boats suitable for sea operations are now used by crews at Häädemeeste, Kopli, Käina, Loksa, Orissaare, Paldiski, Pärnu and Sillamäe.
Also, four maritime rescue exercises were held (one international, one on maritime pollution control). The following two factors have considerably increased the number of air and maritime rescue events in recent years: • •
the growing number of watercrafts in Estonia, the intensified vessel traffic on the Baltic Sea.
No significant pollution incidents took place on sea or on land in 2016.
Professional and volunteer rescue crews in Estonia
Rescuers reaching every corner of Estonia • • •
Estonia has 72 state rescue crews Compared to the Nordic countries, the number of professional rescuers in Estonia is above average and the number of rescue volunteers is below average The time of arrival at a rescue event in Estonia is on par with that in Finland Professional
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Volunteer
Modern equipment helping to save lives At the end of 2016, there were 1,973 means of transport in the Ministry of the Interior ‘s area of government, including 154 watercrafts and seven aircrafts. With the support of the Cohesion Fund, a multifunctional anti-pollution vessel(16 million euros) and a surveillance plane (19 million euros) got procured, and will be commissioned by the end of 2018.
Over the coming 15 years, 207.3 million euros are needed for replacing the transport assets whose useful life has been exceeded. A large share of these can fortunately be covered from EU support – for instance, the Ministry of the Interior is planning to procure nearly 73 million euros worth of means of transport with European support within 2016–2020.
In Estonia it takes 1,5 hours for an aircraft to arrive at a rescue event, up to 1 hour for watercraft on transboundary waters and up to 2 hours on sea.
Speed of arrival of assistance 2014
2015
2016
The average time of arrival of a rescue crew with life-saving capabilities at a life rescue event (in minutes)
9.20
9.53
9.19
The proportion of Estonian residents for whom the arrival of rescue crews with life-saving capabilities is ensured within 15 minutes
93%
93%
93%
(Source: Rescue Board)
With the support of the Internal Security Fund, five bomb robots and eight new bomb suits were procured in 2016. Two additional bomb suits were procured with state budget funds.
Number of search and rescue events at sea Year
Number of SAR events
Number of casualties
Number of rescued people
Number of fatalities
2012
215
401
295
7
2013
250
498
320
14
2014
257
570
431
15
2015
236
577
479
15
2016
232
535
368
9
The Rescue Board received 87 new container trucks. Of these, 26 cistern trucks and 14 cistern container trucks will be delivered to the Rescue Board during the first half of 2017 and 43 basic trucks by the end of the year. The Rescue Board’s six ladder trucks (3.3 million euros) for rescuing people from tall buildings have also been delivered.
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More secure and faster organisation of assistance 16
Prompt assistance becoming increasingly accurate A vitally important telephone number •
•
Awareness that assistance can be obtained by calling the emergency number 112 has improved. According to the survey, 97% of the residents know the number 112 for calling an ambulance, 95% for calling rescuers and 91% for calling the police. The number of emergency calls (1,033,931 emergency calls) decreased by 10% in 2016, but the number of registered events grew by 0.7% from 2015. The latter is a positive indicator since those include more calls where people actually required urgent assistance.
•
In the summer of 2016, the Emergency Response Centre (ERC) introduced a more accurate system of positioning callers to the emergency number 112. The system determines the caller location of Android phones mostly within a 50-metre radius, sometimes even with a precision of 2 to 3 metres.
•
93.5% of the callers get connected within 10 seconds. The ERC uses a call overflow system which enables to redirect calls to another centre when all lines are busy in one region.
•
According to the trend survey conducted in 2016, 88.4% of the respondents were satisfied with the service of processing emergency notifications. The callers to the ERC were most satisfied with the call receivers’ understanding of the problem (91% were rather or fully satisfied) as well as with their professional skills (89%).
Police response times even shorter •
In 2016, the police received an average of 405 calls in 24 hours. On the average, this makes 23 fewer calls than in 2015.
•
This could also explain the improvement by a tenth to average response time of police officers, i.e. from 33 minutes to half an hour. In response to time-critical calls, police officers arrive within 16 minutes on the average.
eCall Cars will start notifying of accidents As of 31 March 2018, all car models sold in EU have to be equipped with the eCall system. With the eCall system, the vehicle can notify the ERC of the incident and its location without human intervention in case of an accident. The ERC has made efficient preparations to be ready for receiving eCall notifications.
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Prevention of crises and increasing preparedness for emergencies 18
Low awareness of emergency prevention
89% 86%
have tools for lighting a fire
have a torch with extra batteries, candles or an oil lamp
According to the data gathered in the Internal Security Strategy trend survey, 2016 only 29% of people have knowingly tried to prevent or alleviate the damages caused by a possible accident or emergency.
68% 64%
have first aid equipment and a stock of necessary medicines have foodstuffs with a long expiry term
People who have, tend to be living in rural areas (37%), have a higher level of education (39%), and tend to be younger or middle-aged (33% aged 20–49 years), and to be of Estonian nationality (37%).
44% 35% 33% 28%
have water containers for storing drinking water
have alternatives for an electric or gas stove
have battery-operated radios with extra batteries
have an alternative option for charging their mobile phone
What proportion of people have which emergency supplies at home?
19
Increasing internal security
20
Fear of terrorism not a major concern for Estonians
3%
Only 3% of residents consider crime or terrorism a major concern for the country. The relevant average figures in the EU were 10% and 14% in 2016.
59%
59% of residents consider the activities of Estonian government in combating terrorism sufficient.
More people involved in serious and organised crime apprehended
133
7,6 mln â‚Ź
65
+39%
The number of criminal cases involving serious hidden crimes sent to the prosecutor’s office increased from 121 (2015) to 133 (2016).
65 money laundering crimes were registered in 2016, which is nearly three times as many as in 2015.
More than 7.6 million euros worth of criminal assets were uncovered in 2016. This is more than twice as much as in 2015 when a little over 3 million euros were uncovered.
The number of registered corruption crimes increased by 39% from 2015.
21
Explosives removal and anti cyber crime forces strengthened •
Bomb robots and bomb suits procured with the support of the Internal Security Fund in 2016 have somewhat improved the capabilities in the area of explosives removal.
•
On the average, bomb squads arrive within 90 minutes.
•
New cyber crime office established under the Central Criminal Police of the Police and Border Guard Board. Several new officials got hired to increase the state’s capabilities in combating cyber crime, and to investigate and prevent cyber attacks.
Corruption perception index remaining stable Estonian corruption perceptions index
100 80
64
68
69
70
60 40 20
Transparency International annually publishes the Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking countries by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys. According to the 2016 index, Estonia places 22nd among 176 countries with 70 points. (Source: non-profit association Transparency International Estonia)
0 2012
2013
2014
2015
Somalia
Bulgaria
70 points
90 points
Somalia, North Korea and South Sudan are listed at the end of the table, and are perceived as the most corrupt countries.
Estonia places 11th among the European Union countries, while the highest perceptible corruption level among the European Union countries is in Bulgaria (41 points).
According to the 2016 international corruption perceptions index published by the association Transparency International Estonia, Estonia places 22nd among 176 countries with 70 points.
Denmark and New Zealand with 90 points have the lowest perceptible corruption levels, followed by Finland (89) and Sweden (88).
22
ATHOS 2016 •
International special intervention units exercise ATHOS 2016 took place in Tallinn. It was also the largest special units’ anti-terrorist training in Europe in 2016. The exercise was held under ATLAS network which connects European special units, and was a follow-up to an exercise held in Estonia in autumn 2015 - ATHOS 2015.
•
Altogether 20 special units and almost 400 people took part in the training. Special units from 15 countries participated, including Germany, France, Austria, Great Britain, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, and USA.
•
Cooperation in case of a terrorist attack in a city environment was practised in Tallinn City Hall and its vicinities. The exercise was partially also held in Harku ja Murru Prisons and in Tallinn Cordon in order to practise commanding the units simultaneously in several locations.
•
The scenario of the exercise included evacuating victims and containing armed terrorists; emergency services and hospitals were also involved in the training.
23
A balanced citizenship and migration policy 24
Number of people without citizenship decreasing At the beginning of 2016, Estonia put several law amendments into force that contributed to the decrease in the number of people with undetermined citizenship. For instance, now the Estonian citizenship is granted by way of naturalisation to all children born in Estonia or permanently settling in Estonia with parents immediately after birth. Citizenship was thus granted to 204 children in 2016.
The number of people with undetermined citizenship fell to 79,438 by the end of 2016 (the number was 82,561 at the end of 2015). A total of 1,755 people acquired Estonian citizenship. Estonian citizenship got automatically granted to all children with undetermined citizenship born in Estonia in 2001–2015. On that basis, 757 children became Estonian citizens.
9,100 5,800
Immigration, emigration and migration balance in 2008–2016
In recent years, immigration to Estonia has increased. Immigration has exceeded emigration since 2015. In 2016, 9,100 people moved to Estonia and 5,800 people left.
20,000 15,413
15,000
13,003
10,000 5,000
4,406
4,658
3,671
3,884
0 2008
2009
5,294 2,810 2010
6,214 3,709 2011
6,321
2,639 2012
9,100
6,740 4,637 4,098 2013
5,800
3,904 2014
2015 2,410
2016 3,300
Age based distribution of people with undetermined citizenship at the end of 2016 Age
Number
0–15
197 (of whom 10 live in a foreign country)
16–25 2,058 (of whom 46 live in a foreign country) 26–35 11,610 (of whom 202 live in a foreign country) 36–45 16,983 (of whom 326 live in a foreign country) 46–55 16,018 (of whom 214 live in a foreign country) 56–65 17,128 (of whom 95 live in a foreign country)
-735
-774
Emigration
-2,484 Immigration
-2,505
-733 -3,682
66–75 8,788 (of whom 44 live in a foreign country)
-2,642
76+ (Source: Statistics Estonia)
6,681 (of whom 38 live in a foreign country) (Source: Population Register)
25
Starting employment in Estonia becoming easier for foreigners To make living and working in Estonia simpler for qualified and entrepreneurial people, several amendments were made to the Aliens Act in January 2016, making starting employment in Estonia easier for foreigners. As a result, conditions have been created to increase the number of foreign talents working and studying in Estonia. Within the past six years, the largest number of temporary residence permits have been issued to the citizens of Russia, Ukraine and the United States of America, followed by the citizens of Belarus, Georgia, India, China, Turkey and Nigeria. From the European Union Member States, Finnish, German and Latvian citizens are the most common people to migrate to Estonia.
26
Temporary residence permits issued according to citizenship 2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
1,110
1,118
1,119
1,237
1,696
Ukraine
589
675
1,087
1,610
1,727
United States of America
182
192
183
197
221
Belarus
65
81
93
105
186
Georgia
72
75
120
109
128
India
50
76
129
130
187
China
77
97
83
83
117
Turkey
70
77
85
95
118
Nigeria
16
36
78
144
200
Israel
28
30
41
24
33
8
9
21
50
95
Other
1,043
1,037
1,021
1,144
2,003
Total
3,310
3,503
4,060
4,928
6,711
Russia
Bangladesh
(Source: Police and Border Guard Board)
Number of applicants for international protection decreased
Immigration of European Union citizens 2015
2016
Total
Finland
768
770
698
793
798
5,605
Germany
300
352
384
435
465
2,618
Latvia
303
396
332
290
397
2,360
Italy
166
190
206
208
253
1,340
France
139
190
163
191
210
1,210
Lithuania
87
124
118
133
152
926
Sweden
90
94
91
100
104
796
Poland
127
148
122
105
84
781
Spain
105
119
148
147
157
882
95
120
84
108
90
763
Other
397
877
698
666
738
4,270
Total
2,577
3,380
3,044
3,176
3,448
United Kingdom
In 2016, 84 people submitted their first application for international protection in Estonia. That number is nearly three times smaller than in 2015, and is mostly connected to the stabilising situation in Ukraine. The most frequent applications for international protection in Estonia came from the citizens of the Russian Federation (14), Iran (10), the occupied Palestinian territories (10), Afghanistan (9), Ukraine (9), Sudan (8) and Albania (8). The Police and Border Guard Board made 65 positive decisions in 2016, with the largest numbers of beneficiaries of protection being among the citizens of Ukraine (21), the Russian Federation (9), Iraq (9), Afghanistan (7) and Sudan (5).
226 people
Iran
Russia
In Estonia, 66 people applied for international protection in 2011, 147 people in 2014 and 226 people in 2015.
10
The most frequent applications for international protection
10
9 Afghanistan
14
the occupied Palestinian territories
(Source: Population Register)
9 8
8 Albania
2014
Sudan
2013
Ukraine
2012
27
Number of applicants and beneficiaries of international protection 350 300 78
250
43
200 150 100
11 4
50 0
46
20
23
21
1 1997
1998
1999
3 8 2000
12 4
9
14
2001
2002
2003
11
11
2004
2005
7
14 4
14 4
2006
2007
2008
30
2009
2010
Persons who have arrived under relocation and resettlement and who have been granted additional protection Number of beneficiaries of international protection Number of applicants of international protection
28
7
228
65
147
17
36
Persons who have arrived under relocation and resettlement and who have been granted refugee status
13
66
77
2011
2012
97
2013
34
2014
2015
2016
(Source: Police and Border Guard Board)
Estonia is helping the European countries under migratory pressure In September 2015, the ministers of the interior of the European Union Member States agreed on the relocation and resettlement of 180,000 people who needed international protection over two years. Estonia will be responsible for the relocation and the resettling of up to 550 people who need international protection. In 2016, Estonia received the first refugees under the resettlement and relocation agreement: 78 relocated people from Greece and 11 resettled people from Turkey. The integration of people who have been resettled or relocated is supported by the support persons assigned to them. The support persons help them understand the Estonian public administration system, communicate with public authorities, find employment etc. The relocation and resettlement is co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
Welcoming programme for smoother adaptation An important part of migration policy is the adaption of immigrants. From the year 2015 until the end of 2016, 11,061 new immigrants were invited to participate in the Welcoming programme. Out of them 1549 people participated in the programme. New immigrants value the adaptation programme highly: 90% of people who completed the adaptation training found that their competitiveness in coping in Estonia improved as a result of the training. The Welcoming programme is supported by the European Social Fund. In 2016, the migration information portal www.settleinestonia.ee was introduced. The portal offers multilingual information about settling in Estonia and covers various practical issues of local life (e.g. public services).
45%
concerned about immigration in 2015
19%
concerned about immigration in 2016
As a result of the European migration crisis, the residents of Estonia considered immigration the most important problem Estonia was facing in 2015. This immigration concern decreased considerably in 2016 (from 45% to 19%), and is no longer among the three main concerns.
29
Reliable and secure identity management 30
Population register containing data of all Estonians
Foreigners encouraged to use Estonia’s e-services
The Population Register is the heart of the Estonian state. Everyone supplies them information, from the people themselves to county governments, local government units, notaries, clergymen, medical institutions, foreign representation offices, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Police and Border Guard Board, the courts, and the Road Administration.
At the end of 2014, Estonia created the e-resident’s digital I. E-residency makes everyday formalities easier and allows foreigners to use Estonia’s e-services, like registering their company or giving a digital signature. Estonia received 7,474 e-resident’s digital ID applications in 2015 and 8,224 in 2016 (9% more than in 2015).
The number of enquiries made to the Population Register has been growing every year. While in 2015, 90 million enquiries were made, then in 2016 the number rose to 109 million.
Number of enquiries made to the Population Register (in millions) 109
2016 2015
90.1
2014
75.6
2013
55.8
2012
42.4
2011
43
2010
37.3
2009
20.2
2008
Over a third of Estonians regularly using e-services
92%
92% of Estonian residents hold an electronic identity document
344 mln As at the beginning of 2017, nearly 344 million digital signatures had been given
40%
More people are using Estonia’s e-services every year (with 33% in 2015 and 36% of people in 2016). The next objective is to reach 40% by 2020.
13.1
2007
8.6
2006
7.1
2005
5.9
2004
4.3
2003
3.2
2002
2.6
2001
1.7 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
31
More efficient border management 32
Heading towards the most modern border in the world The construction of Estonia’s eastern border started in 2015 and the work continued in 2016. The largest investment from the 2016 internal security budget was allocated for the construction of the eastern border – 20 million euros.
With the support of the Internal Security Fund, we are planning to procure 12 new drones for automated border control.
In total, 135.6 kilometers of the eastern border will be marked and nearly 700 border posts and more than 300 floating border signs will be installed. Perimeter fences will be built and various monitoring and surveillance equipment introduced (e.g. drones, cameras, radars) which all help border guards do their job better. With support from the Internal Security Fund, 63 special means of transport will be procured for the border (UTVs, ski-doos, box trailers, off-road bikes, 460,000 euros in total) to help border guards access difficult terrain. In 2016, the Piusa guard post building was also completed, providing the regional border guards with modern living and working conditions. In addition, the Luhamaa border point was renovated.
Number of border crossings
6,6 mln
Approximately 6.6 million people crossed the external border in 2016.
Estonia has 3,794 km of coastline, 767 km of sea border and 338.6 km of land border.
1 mln +
In total, over a million land, water and air vehicles crossed the external border in 2016, which was 3% more than in 2015.
88%
People who have come into contact with the work of border guards are very satisfied with the organisation and speed of border-crossing – the level of satisfaction was 90% in 2015, rising to 88% in 2016.
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Illegal immigration In 2016, 263 incidents of illegal immigration involving 526 people got discovered at border points, in areas between border points and in the country. The number of people discovered remained stable compared to 2015. At border points. 175 incidents of illegal immigration were discovered in 2016. Border crossing was prevented for 311 people who intended to enter Estonia by misusing the Schengen visa. In total, 888 people were prevented from crossing the border. In areas between border points 12 illegal border-crossings were discovered and 50 people were detained. The misuse of the Schengen visa continues to be the most common method of illegal immigration, forming 66.5% of the incidents in 2016.
Number of incidents and people related to illegal immigration 600
552
400 293 200
134
109
57 0
40 2008
61
61
82
2009
2010
2011
Third Country Nationals
While guarding the land border, 261 incidents of illicit goods trafficking were discovered in 2016 (which is 14 incidents more than in 2015).
34
267
132 149
128
2012
2013
285
313
269
164
2014
2015
2016
Incidents
Prevention of illicit trafficking of goods
261
520
2,180 incidents Illicit trafficking of fuel was discovered in 2,180 incidents, amounting to 96,000 litres in 2016 (41,000 litres in 62 incidents in 2015).
2,250 litres Out of all incidents, alcohol was involved in 180 cases with 2,250 litres of absolute alcohol seized (4,693 litres of absolute alcohol in 210 incidents in 2015). Of the seized alcohol, 42% was strong alcohol (vodka, spirit, moonshine). The share of light alcohol (mainly beer) increased primarily due to the transit to the Nordic countries.
Number of illicit trafficking incidents discovered 300 241 200
100
181 126
106
55
81 0
201 173 120 81
195
170
258
154 104
173 69
247
77 46
25 2010
2011 Total
Border points
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Areas between border points
14 mln
A total of 14 million illicit cigarettes were found, half of which were of Belarusian origin.
35
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