Over 4,000 migrants held in 3 months off Turkish coasts

By Mustafa Yildirim

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) - A total of 4,214 undocumented migrants have been held in the past three months when they tried to cross the Turkish-Greece border using illegal routes, according to information based on official data.

In January, provincial security forces, border guards and gendarmeries apprehended 1,634 people; in February the figure was 1,046 and in March 1,534 undocumented migrants were detained.

Turkey has been a main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Among the migrants held in the course of 2017, most came from Pakistan -- around 15,000 -- followed by around 12,000 Afghans. The number of Syrian migrants totaled around 10,000.

There has been a 60 percent increase in the flow of migrants since 2016, when the number totaled 31,000.