Turkey stemming flow of irregular migrants to Europe

ANKARA

Turkey's security measures against irregular migration have yielded positive results, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

Migrants intending to cross to Europe have found it increasingly difficult to use Turkey as a transit route.

According to data from the Directorate General of Migration Management, the number of irregular migrants crossing to Europe via Turkish waters and land fell by 17.6% to 6,864 in the first four months of 2019 compared with 8,332 in the same period of the previous year.

The data suggested that a total of 79,002 irregular migrants comprising 32,942 Afghans, 11,691 Pakistanis, 6,432 Syrians, and other origins were held between Jan. 1 and April 25.

The number of Afghan-origin migrants transiting from Turkey to Europe fell by 14% and Syrian-origin migrants by 55%.

On another note, the total number of irregular migrants in Turkey decreased by 2.44% compared with the same period of the previous year.

Meanwhile, the number of deported migrants from Afghanistan increased by 70% and Pakistan by 79%, and others rose by 34% compared with the same period of the previous year.