Over 3,000 migrants found offshore Turkey in September

By Ramazan Ercan

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) - Turkish security forces in September took into custody the highest number of migrants since October 2016, according to Coast Guard Command figures.

Coast guards found 3,408 migrants offshore Turkey in September and 15,470 were held over the last nine months.

Turkish security forces on the Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Seas regularly find migrants illegally travelling en route to Europe, risking death in the process, the Coast Guard Command told Anadolu Agency.

This year, 756 people in January and 719 in February were found by the security forces.

The number doubled in March to 1,501 and 1,551 others were detained in April.

These numbers rose dramatically in August to 2,668 before rising to over 3,400 in September.

- Illegal Black Sea crossings prevented

On the Black Sea, which has become a new route for migrants, people on their way to European countries were found by joint actions by law-enforcement officers from Turkey’s Interior Ministry and coast guards.

Since Sept. 22, there has not been any recorded illegal crossing on Black Sea.

- Fatalities

Fifty-one people have lost their lives during dangerous sea journeys since the beginning of 2017. Search and rescue operations are ongoing for 14 missing migrants.

One incident, in which a fishing boat carrying migrants sank, killing 24 people off Turkey’s northwestern Kocaeli/Kefken coast, was the deadliest refugee incident at sea since April 2016.

Apart from 15,470 migrants held offshore by coast guards, 5,168 migrants were detained before they could reach the sea, during the joint operations by Turkey’s gendarmerie and coast guard.