Three migrants found after ‘freezing to death’ near Turkey-Greece border

EDİRNE

The bodies of three people thought to be irregular migrants have been found in separate border villages in Turkey’s northwestern Edirne province, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Dec. 4.

The body of one migrant – thought to be of Afghan origin – was found in the village of Serem, while the bodies of two other migrants were found in the villages of Akçadam and Adasarhanlı, the agency said.

All the migrants are thought to have frozen to death, and their bodies were sent to the Istanbul Institution of Forensic Medicine for further examination.

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Turkish authorities caught a 29-year-old Afghan man, named as Jamalvddin Malangi, who told reporters in Edirne that Greek police sent him back to Turkey on a boat via River Evros (or Meriç) between Greece and Turkey. The area is a major crossing point for refugees trying to enter the EU.

Malangi, who claimed he knew one of the migrants found dead, said that they sought help after crossing into Greece by knocking on doors.

“We wanted help and during this, someone must have called the police and the Greek police officers came and caught us. First they took us to the police station then they took us near to the river where there were two boats,” Malangi said, quoted by Anadolu Agency.

“We were sent back after being put on them (the boats)” to Turkey, he added.

It was not clear whether the migrants found dead were all part of the same group who entered Greece with Malangi or had separately tried to enter the EU member state.

According to Greek authorities, over 14,000 irregular entries have been recorded across the Turkish border so far this year, compared to some 5,500 in 2017.

But the number of migrants coming to Europe has fallen since the 2015 peak when over a million people landed in Greece from Turkey, the majority via boats.

The decline followed a deal agreed between the EU and Turkey in 2016 to stop the flow of migrants with Ankara agreeing to take migrants landing on Greek islands in exchange for incentives.