Turkey stemming flow of irregular migrants to Europe

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's security measures against irregular migration have yielded positive results, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

Migrants intending to cross to Europe have found it increasingly difficult to use Turkey as a transit route.

According to data from the Directorate General of Migration Management, the number of irregular migrants crossing to Europe via Turkish waters and land fell by 17.6% to 6,864 in the first four months of 2019 compared with 8,332 in the same period of the previous year.

The data suggested that a total of 79,002 irregular migrants comprising 32,942 Afghans, 11,691 Pakistanis, 6,432 Syrians, and other origins were held between Jan. 1 and April 25.

The number of Afghan-origin migrants transiting from Turkey to Europe fell by 14% and Syrian-origin migrants by 55%.

On another note, the total number of irregular migrants in Turkey decreased by 2.44% compared with the same period of the previous year.

Meanwhile, the number of deported migrants from Afghanistan increased by 70% and Pakistan by 79%, and others rose by 34% compared with the same period of the previous year.