Over 420 undocumented migrants held in Turkey

By Hakan Mehmet Sahin and Ali Balli

EDIRNE/MUGLA, Turkey (AA) - A total of 423 undocumented migrants were held in northwest and southwest Turkey, security sources said on Monday.

Border guards held 402 migrants in the northwestern Edirne province’s Meric and Ipsala districts and the villages of Bosnakoy, Yenikadin, Kemalkoy and Orhaniye, according to a security source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Among the migrants were Syrian, Pakistani, Libyan, Algerian, Palestinian, Iraqi, Moroccan, Iranian and Bangladeshi nationals.

In the southwestern coastal province of Mugla, coast guards held 21 undocumented migrants in a boat off the coast of Bagla Bay.

Among the migrants were Syrian and Iraqi nationals including women and children.

The migrants were sent to provincial migration authorities.

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