430 undocumented migrants, refugees held across Turkey

By Cihan Demirci

EDIRNE, Turkey

At least 430 undocumented migrants and refugees were held by security forces across Turkey on Thursday, according to officials.

In northwestern Turkey’s Edirne province, border units and gendarmerie held 381 undocumented migrants and refugees during inspections in the Ipsala and Meric districts and the towns of Kosen, Orhaniye, Bosnakoy and Yenikadın.

Among the migrants and refugees were Afghans, Pakistanis, Palestinians, Iraqis, Syrians, Somalis, Algerians, and Eritreans who tried to escape abroad illegally, according to a gendarmerie source.

In the northwestern province of Tekirdag, local gendarmes held 24 undocumented migrants, including 13 Pakistanis and 11 Afghans, who were planning to cross into Greece illegally, a gendarmerie source said.

In the southern border province of Hatay, 15 undocumented foreign nationals, including nine Syrians and six Iraqis, were held by the police when they stopped a commercial vehicle carrying the migrants on the Kirikhan-Antakya road, according to a security source.

The migrants crossed into Turkey from Syria illegally, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

All the migrants and refugees were referred to migration management authorities, both sources added.

Turkey has been a main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe since especially the beginning of the civil war in Syria in early 2011.

* Alper Eral from Tekirdag and Huseyin Yildiz from Hatay contributed to this story