Salih Baran
February 10, 2020•Update: February 11, 2020
EDIRNE, Turkey
Turkish security forces on Monday rounded up 124 irregular migrants attempting to cross to Europe through the country’s northwestern Edirne province.
According to sources who asked not to be named, the provincial gendarmerie forces and police officers conducted operations against those seeking to enter Europe illegally.
Among the migrants held were nationals of Palestine, Eritrea, Bangladesh, Morocco, Syria, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They were later transferred to provincial migration offices.
Also, gendarmes found a body and rescued a person who showed symptoms of hypothermia from the Martisa River which flows through Greece to Edirne.
Rescuers said they were possibly trying to swim to Europe through the river.
Turkey's Edirne province, which borders Greece and Bulgaria, is a key transit point for irregular migrants aiming to start new lives in Europe, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
But strict monitoring by security forces prevents them to cross to the continent.
In 2019, Turkish authorities held a record of 454,662 irregular migrants across the country, with about 60,000 caught while traversing the Mediterranean Sea.
As many as 268,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, 175,000 each in 2017 and 2016, and 146,000 in 2015.
About 28,000 human traffickers have also been rounded up by the authorities in the past five years.
*Writing by Fahri Aksut
