Nearly 600 undocumented migrants rounded up in Turkey

EDİRNE - Anadolu Agency

File photo

A total of 590 undocumented migrants have been rounded up in recent days by the authorities across Turkey, security sources said on June 6.

Border guards seized 218 migrants in the northwestern province of Edirne’s Meriç and Lalapaşa districts, according to a security source who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Among the migrants were Afghan, Pakistani, Palestinian, Iraqi, Moroccan, Algerian, Sri Lankan and Vietnamese nationals.

In the eastern province of Van, gendarmerie units rounded up a total of 87 undocumented migrants, a security source said. Of them, 81 were Afghan nationals and six Pakistani nationals who entered the country by illegal means.

Separately, coast guard teams intercepted a rubber boat carrying 41 Syrian migrants, attempting to illegally cross over to Greek islands, in the Aegean Sea off the coast of İzmir province’s Seferihisar district.

In the Didim district of the Aegean province of Aydın, 43 undocumented migrants -- all Syrian nationals -- were taken in by security forces.

Also, customs officials rounded up seven undocumented Iraqi migrants, who were wrapped in aluminum foil inside a truck at Istanbul’s Pendik Ro-Ro Port.

In İzmir’s Urla, two Cubans, a Syrian, and 30 migrants from various African countries were rounded up.

In the eastern border province of Kars, 130 migrants including Afghan nationals were taken in.

In the central province of Kayseri, gendarmerie forces took in 34 undocumented migrants, including Afghans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who were travelling in a bus after entering Turkey by illegal means.

The security forces also apprehended three people for human trafficking.

Turkey has in recent years become a main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.