Some 85,000 irregular migrants deported this year

ANKARA

Since the start of the year, a total of 84,993 irregular migrants have been deported from Türkiye, the Presidency of Migration Management has said.

Nearly 220,000 irregular migrants have also been prevented from illegally entering the country this year, while between Sept. 16 and 22, more than 5,000 people were stopped at Türkiye’s borders, according the authority.

Among those prevented from entering the country illegally in September were 1,534 Afghans and 265 Pakistanis. The remaining 3,833 people were from other nationalities.

Deportations are well above the averages in European countries, the authority added.

From Sept. 16 to 22 alone, around 3,300 irregular migrants, most of them Afghan nationals, were deported and last week 3,000 people were sent back to their countries, it said.

Some 16,000 people are waiting at the removal centers to be deported, including 2,900 Afghans, around 5,000 Pakistanis and 8,000 people from other nationalities, according to the authority.

There are 30 removal centers, including one temporary facility in the province of Malatya, across Türkiye.

Türkiye has become one of the key transit points for migrants looking to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

Between January and Sept. 15, more than 200,000 irregular migrants have been caught in Türkiye. In the whole of 2021, this figure was 163,000, down from the previous year’s 455,000.

Afghan nationals constituted the largest group of caught irregular migrants this year at nearly 87,000, followed by Syrians at 29, 600 and Pakistanis at 13,000.

As of Sept. 15, nearly 3.66 million Syrians live in Türkiye under temporary protection, down from 3.74 million in 2021. Most of the Syrians - 552,000 - reside in Istanbul, while the south eastern provinces of Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa host 466,000 and 384,000 Syrians, respectively.