Over 650 irregular migrants held across Turkey

VAN, Turkey

Turkey on Monday held at least 655 irregular migrants in nationwide operations, according to security sources.

In the eastern Van province alone, a total of 168 irregular migrants were held in three different operations.

Sixty-nine irregular migrants, including 47 Afghans, 19 Pakistanis, two Bangladeshis and a Syrian national were held during gendarmerie forces patrolling in Baskale district of Van, according to the local Gendarmerie Command.

Another 60 irregular migrants, including 42 Afghan and 18 Pakistani nationals, were rounded up in Gulpinar district from a parked truck on Hakkari-Van highway, according to provincial security directorate.

Also in Muradiye district of Van, 39 Afghan nationals were held on Van-Ercis highway when security forces stopped and checked a suspicious vehicle, said a security source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The irregular migrants, who were affected by bitter cold, were given blankets and food by the gendarmerie forces, the source added.

Driver of the vehicle, identified by the initials C. E., was also arrested.

In the northwestern Yalova province, 109 Afghan nationals were held during simultaneous operations in 11 different localities, according to another security source.

Two suspects among the irregular migrants are said to be migrant smugglers and legal procedures for them are ongoing in a local police station.

In Altinozu district of the southern Hatay province, 38 Syrians, who illegally entered Turkey, were also held by border guards.

They were referred to the local gendarmerie command.

Separately in northwestern province Edirne, 340 migrants -- including Algerian, Moroccan, Syrian, Iraqi, Indian and Nepalese nationals -- were caught while trying to cross the border through illegal means.

All of the irregular migrants were referred to provincial migration offices.

Turkey has been a main route for irregular migrants trying to cross to Europe, especially since 2011, the start of the Syrian civil war.

Over 265,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.

*Yavuz Emrah Sever from Yalova, Erdal Turkoglu from Hatay and Cihan Demirci from Edirne contributed to this story.

Writing by Dilara Hamit,Sena Güler