The border drawn between Norway and Russia in 1826 divided Sámi communities, and since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine cross-border contact has almost stopped. Al Jazeera describes how GPS jamming disrupts reindeer tracking, tighter security cuts family ties, and the craft trade suffers. Revival of the Skolt Sámi language, now spoken by fewer than a thousand people, is also under pressure. Sámi leaders want their concerns included in defence planning.

It is a reminder that borders and state power, not only belief systems, can erase a people's heritage, and that the history of minorities is worth defending.

Source: Al Jazeera (2026-10-31)

Summarised by the FTI newsdesk.