Over 400 irregular migrants deported from Edirne

EDİRNE

A total of 413 irregular migrants, mostly from Afghanistan and Morocco, who were caught in the northwestern province of Edirne in the last month, have been deported.

Migrants were handed over to the removal center in Edirne by law enforcement units, after which they got on buses to be deported to their countries from the airport and border gates.

Since the beginning of the year, over 4,000 irregular migrants have been sent to their countries from the removal center in Edirne.

Türkiye has deported 97,448 irregular migrants since the new year as the number of deportations increased by 149 percent compared to the same period of 2021, according to the Directorate General of Migration Management.

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 southeastern provinces of Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa host 466,000 and 384,000 Syrians, respectively.