The Russian border crossing at Storskog, Norway, is where some Middle Eastern migrants are choosing to enter the northern country. Photo by Clemensfranz/Wikimedia

OSLO, Norway, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A migrant route from the Middle East through Russia and the Arctic Circle to Scandinavia is proving safer than a trip over the Mediterranean Sea.

More than 150 migrants have independently taken that trip in the past two months, arriving in Norway, a country not in the European Union but still visa-free. The circuitous route typically involves arriving in Moscow by train or plane, then traveling to an unguarded section of the Russia-Norway border, where a bicycle can be purchased to finish the journey.


An unidentified Syrian teacher, 31, found he could not cross through a checkpoint at Storskog, Norway, 250 miles above the Arctic Circle, so he purchased a bicycle and rode 20 over a gravel road to an easier access point, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The 2,300-mile trip cost him $2,400, including the price of a Russian visa and a Beirut-to-Moscow plane trip. Refugees using the more hazardous route, over the Mediterranean Sea, often spend up to $12,000 for the trip.

"I had my laptop on my chest and a bag on my back," he said of his entry to Norway, speaking at Oslo's Refstad refugee shelter. "I was wearing two jackets and two sets of underwear under my pants. North is cold."

The route is regarded as the new and inexpensive fast track to Europe, though authorities of FSB, Russia's domestic security agency, are monitoring the new phenomenon from its offices in the nearest city to the Norwegian border, Murmansk.

The number of attempted approaches to Europe via the Arctic route has increased dramatically in recent days. The Storskog border station reports about 100 people per day make the crossing. As they enter Norway, they tend to leave their bicycles at the border.