January 10, 2018•Update: January 10, 2018
By Cihan Demirci, Zafer Tayfur and Meryem Goktas
EDIRNE/VAN, Turkey
Security forces held 195 undocumented migrants across Turkey, officials said Wednesday.
In northwestern Edirne province, 160 undocumented migrants were held, according to a security source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restriction on speaking to the media.
The source said that the migrants were Syrian, Palestinian, Bangladeshi, Afghan, Algerian, Moroccan, Iraqi, Spanish and Nepalese nationals.
The migrants were transferred to the migration management authorities.
In a separate operation in the eastern province of Van another 35 undocumented migrants, who illegally crossed into Turkey, were rounded up.
The Afgan nationals were held in the Baskale district of Van.
They were referred to the local migration management authorities.
In the last 10 years, Edirne has seen a rise in migrants from Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Morocco, Iran and Iraq. In 2017 alone, 50,000 migrants and refugees from 50 different countries have been held by Turkish security units.
There has been a 60 percent increase in migrant flow since 2016. The number was 31,000 in 2016.
