At least 60 irregular migrants held across Turkey

By Fecri Barlik, Erdal Turkoglu and Hakan Mehmet Sahin</p> <p>SIIRT/HATAY/EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) – At least 60 irregular migrants were held across Turkey, security sources said on Monday.</p> <p>Some 14 migrants were held in a bus during a regular highway patrol in eastern Siirt province.</p> <p>Most of the migrants were Afghan nationals, while the other three were Pakistanis.</p> <p>Separately, security forces held 38 irregular migrants, all Syrian nationals, in Altinozu district of southern Hatay province.</p> <p>Turkish gendarmerie also rounded up eight irregular migrants in northwestern province of Edirne.</p> <p>Turkey has been a main route for irregular migrants trying to cross to Europe, especially since 2011 when the Syrian civil war began.</p> <p>Among the migrants held in 2017 in Turkey, the majority came from Pakistan — around 15,000 — followed by Afghans at around 12,000. Syrians totaled about 10,000. There has been a 60 percent increase in migrant flow since 2016. The number was 31,000 in 2016.

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