Paramilitary police in Turkey have arrested 139 suspected illegal migrants in the western part of the country, reports said Monday. Paramilitary police in the province of Edirne, detained the migrants during the past two days, in separate operations. The migrants were planning to enter Greece illegally, the Anatolia news agency reported, according to SPA.
The majority of the detained migrants were from Iraq, however the group included people from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Morocco, Somalia, Tunisia, Ghana, Turkey and Palestinians, according to the agency. Each year thousands of migrants, mostly from Asia and the Middle East, pass through Turkey on their way to Western Europe.
The European Union (EU), which Ankara seeks to join, is exerting pressure on Turkey to crack down on illegal migration. (Albawaba.com)
