Senyan frontier
The Senyan frontier is the official government term for the land and sea borders of Senya. Senya currently shares a border with Natopia's territory of Arboria to the north-west, Jingdao to the south, as well as coastal waters to the north-east and a frontier against the unclaimed territories to the north. Senya has previously shared land borders with Elwynn (1589 AN–1600 AN), Shireroth (1589 AN–1617 AN), Palasia (1599 AN–1607 AN), the Apollonian Republic (1617 AN–1634 AN), Gerenia (1626 AN–1636 AN), Jexit (1638 AN–1641 AN) and Francia (1684 AN–1685 AN).
History
Security
The Senyan frontier is managed and guarded by the Senyan Border Agency, who are officially a branch of the military, although are functionally independent from the armed forces.
Arborian border
The Senyan–Arborian border is the shortest of the four borders, demarcating the boundary with the Principality of Arboria, a territory of Natopia. Due to Senya and Natopia's positive relations, security on this border is considerably more lax compared to Senya's four other frontiers, though it is still demarcated with border markers and a small fence.
The Svorgas–Tirlar railway line crosses the border and is the busiest of the land border crossings.
Jingdaoese border
The Senyan–Jingdaoese border is the longest of Senya's four borders and extends first southbound from the tripoint with Arboria, before heading eastwards, becoming the southern frontier of Senya, crossing the mountains of Senyan Arboria until it reaches Lake Lamantia, where the border becomes a maritime one, extending down the length of the Camoleo River until it reaches the Northern Sea. The rules and regulations of the border are covered by the Senyan–Jingdaoese treaty of 1685 AN.
Along the border with the River Warriors, the border area is largely flat and used for agriculture, with the occasional rolling hill, though after the border turns eastwards, the border becomes mountainous, especially south of Senyan Arboria and Lamantia, including the Bergdorf corridor, before the border goes off the cliffs at Lake Lamantia and follows the course of the river out to the ocean.
Of all of Senya's borders, its frontier with Jingdao has historically been the most problematic. Originally, a border with Shireroth's Duchy of Kildare between 1589 AN–1617 AN, the border was largely calm, although a Senyan national, named Gatkan Hertok, was shot dead whilst crossing the border at a rural border crossing in 1609 AN, with the crime never having been resolved. In 1617 AN, Kildare declared its independence from Shireroth, forming the Apollonian Republic. During the resulting conflict, Senya positioned its border guards metres into Apollonian territory, as an attempt to protect Senyan lands, however the Apollonian Republic took this as a decleration of war, and subsequently invaded Senya under the guise of liberating the River Warriors, who had already begun a small scale insurgency against the Senyan authorities. The ensuing conflict, which lasted until 1620 AN, saw the Apollonian Republic invade and then formally annex the River Warriors, before invading the city of Tiga, an attack which Senya were able to successfully repel. This conflict was the only time that a foreign power has invaded Senyan territory. Subsequently, the border has served as the boundary between Senya and the various iterations of Jing control, including the Apollonian Confederation, Jexit and Jingdao.
Following the conclusion of the war, Senya closed the border. Whilst air travel between Senya and Jingdao was legalised in 1649 AN, and players, officials and fans from Jingdao being welcomed to Senya for the 2017 FMF World Cup, the land border was not re-opened between the two countries until 1672 AN, 52 years after it had been closed, thanks to negotiations between the Senyan and Jingdaoese authorities.
Where terrain is permissive, a border wall has been constructed to prohibit illegal crossings. At all border checkpoints, there are both customs and immigration officials on each side of the border. One must go through both passport control and customs of the nation they are leaving, prior to crossing the border and then going through customs and immigration control of the nation they are entering. On the Jingdaoese, a long wall constructed through the mountains serves as a physical barrier, with guard towers placed at regular intervals and a wide walkway allowing for the easy patrolling of the border. On the Senyan side, some sections are fenced while others are walled off. The Senyan border force is located at regular intervals in towns near the border and use a variety of techniques, including hidden cameras and sensors to ensure that people do not cross the border. Jingdao's border wall tends to be closer to the actual border line, which itself is fenced off, as it passes along the mountain tops, whilst Senyan authorities are very much based in the valleys by the feet of the mountains.
Along the length of the Camoleo River, Senya and Jingdao recognise the maritime border as being the line along the Camoleo River which is geographically equidistant between the Northern bank (Senya) and the Southern bank (Jingdao). The border also takes into account the Jingdaoese island, and curve the border to the northern side of that island to ensure that Jingdaoese ships can go from it to the mainland without crossing into Senyan territory. Both nations share equal fishing rights within the Camoleo River, but any military or commercial (ie fishing) vessels should stay on their side of the border. Private recreational craft can cross the maritime border but should not go within 1km of the other nation’s border unless they plan to dock and present themselves to customs and immigration officials. Lake Lamantia is treated as Senyan territorial waters, with the exception of any waters that are within 50 km of the Jingdaoese coastline or are not closer to Senyan land than Jingdaoese land. When one or both parties are at war, the enemy vessels of either party will be prohibited from entering the Senyan or Jingdaoese territorial waters.
Coastal borders
Senya follows the Micras Treaty Organisation's Convention on the Laws of the Seas, despite neither being signatory to the treaty nor a member of the MTO. As a result, Senya exercises its exclusive reserve zone of 360 kilometres from the baseline of its coast, viewing the economic and environmental resources within this zone belonging fully to it, and that anything within 24 kilometres of the baseline is considered territorial water and subject to the full jurisdiction of the state, with all matters of customs, taxation, and immigration operate as if wholly within the state. However, Senya does permit recreational and some cargo containers to pass through its territorial waters without paying tax or going through customs, so long as they do not come closer than 5 kilometres to the coast and do not engage with anyone that also wishes to break the 5 kilometre limit, though the coastguard does have the power to board these craft if suspected of smuggling contraband or engaging in any other illegal activity.
The coast is protected by the Senyan coastguard, which is tasked in monitoring the shores near Senya and preventing people from illegally entering Senyan waters. Any vessel found trying to illegally entering Senyan waters can be brought to shore by the coastguard, with those onboard subject to prosecution. The exception for this is any refugees or asylum seekers, who will be brought to processing by the Senyan Refugee Commission.
Senya's frontiers along Lake Lamantia and Camoleo River are deemed to be part of the Senyan–Jingdao border and are subject to the the treaty and further regulations governing that border.
Unclaimed territories frontier
Due to the volatile and unstable nature of the unclaimed territories, Senya guards its lengthy northern border quite tightly. A metal mesh fence exists, topped with barbed wire, along with a perimeter road which is patrolled by the Senyan military and border guards. Manned border posts are located at 5km intervals along the border, and hidden sensors and security cameras are in operation along its length. The fence and road extend until the beach at the coast, where a smaller fence and barriers exist preventing people from crossing across.
Whilst some people from the Green may be eligible for refugee status, these people must present themselves at the fence for processing at the border station.
In the past, Senya has occasionally built into the Green to establish infrastructure projects, such as the construction of the railway line between Saint Christopher's and Lükanburg whilst Saint Christopher's remained an exclave of Senya in the Green. However, in this situation, Senya was able to establish a secure presence in the region and gain control, formally annexing the railway line and surrounding areas in 1683 AN.
Border crossings
Air
A number of Senyan airports receive international flights, requiring them to have a Senyan Border Force presence. This is typically done by sealing off the arrivals hall in each airport off from the rest of the airport, and requiring passengers to pass through passport control prior to heading to baggage reclaim or boarding a connecting flight. Whilst Senyan nationals and nationals of selected other nations may pass through a simple bio-metric check, all other nationals, as well as children under the age of 18 must report to a border guard. Following the baggage reclaim area, passengers pass through a customs control area, where passengers are asked to declare certain items. Failure to do so, or to try and smuggle any contraband items into Senya is a criminal offence.
In the rare occasion that a non-international airport receives an international flight (typically during emergencies), local police officers will prevent disembarkment until border and customs officers can be dispatched.
Air traffic is the most common method for foreigners to enter and leave Senya.
Additionally, Senya takes its airspace very seriously, and is monitored by the Senyan armed forces. Whilst commercial, chartered and some special flights (such as those of foreign leaders) are exempted, it is typically illegal for private citizens of a foreign nation to fly an aircraft into Senyan airspace. Even if the craft does not land in Senya, it is considered to be an illegal crossing of the Senyan border and is thus punishable by the aforementioned punishments.
Rail
The Senyan Rail network currently extends into other nations at three separate points, all of which are home to border stations. The Senyan–Arborian border is intersected by the Dyas–Meiridosa line, whilst the Senyan–Jingdaoese border is crossed on both the Tiga–Yuanbeicheng and Svorgas–Daocheng lines, and at all three points, border stations are present. The border stations are effectively two railway yards (one on each side of the border). On each side, customs officials board the train searching for contraband and to check passports. The checks take roughly 45 minutes for passanger, though trains can be held longer if necessary. Freight trains roughly take 8 hours each to be checked.
Jingdao owns and operates a rail freight terminal in Jogasim on the Svorgas–Daocheng line as part of its White Tea Road initiative. As part of the deal, Senyan customs inspectors, as well as local police, are permitted unrestricted access to the facility in order to check for contraband and other illegal items. Whilst additional customs checks are done at the border, part of the role of the customs officials at the Jogasim terminal is to sign off goods headed for Jingdao to allow for a quicker pass through at the border.
Further modernisation projects to Senya's rail borders came upon the announcement of the Apollonian Express project in 1694, where Senya agreed to check passanger trains on the Dyas–Meiridosa line at the respective final station prior to the border, in an effort to shorten delays on this section of the railway. Dyas station was upgraded as customs and immigration facilities were installed on Apollonian Express platforms, whilst border posts on the Jingdaoese rail borders were also upgraded.
Road
Sea/River ports
Any vessel coming in from outside Senyan waters must report to Senyan customs, with the exceptions of fishing vessels, Senyan naval ships and vessels who have not docked in a foreign port since their departure from Senyan shores. Customs checks are performed on both freighters and on smaller vehicles.
