Over 400 undocumented migrants detained in Turkey

İZMİR – Anadolu Agency

A total of 415 undocumented migrants were detained across Turkey on May 7, according to security sources.

In the Aegean province of İzmir, 206 undocumented migrants were rounded up in the Çeşme and Dikili districts in the last 24 hours, said coast guard sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The migrants include women and children trying to illegally cross into Greece.

Another 14 undocumented migrants were detained in Bodrum in the southwestern coastal Muğla province by the coast guard. 

Security units later stopped another boat including 49 migrants attempting to cross into Greece from Karaada island in the Aegean province of Aydın. The migrants were then brought onshore by coast guard units.

In the Kaş district in the Mediterranean southwestern Antalya province, 38 undocumented migrants were also rounded up.

The Turkish Coast Guard also detained 100 undocumented migrants in the Mediterranean province of Mersin.

Separately, in the southern Hatay province’s Kırıkhan district, eight Syrians were detained for “illegally” crossing into Turkey.

A Syrian national suspect was also arrested and remanded in custody for human smuggling.

All the migrants were sent to the provincial migration authority.

Turkey has been a main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.