A coast guard vessel stopped 17 irregular migrants as they were heading to Greece from Türkiye’s Aegean coast, the Coast Guard Command said in a statement on Sunday.
Migrants were aboard a rubber boat that left the Seferihisar district of the western Turkish city of Izmir. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the coast guard detected them. The migrants were pulled to the vessel and sent to a center for irregular migrants.
Türkiye has been a key transit point for irregular migrants who want to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants flee civil conflict or economic hardship in their home countries with the hope of reaching Europe.
Some migrants make the dangerous journey over land or sea with the assistance of smugglers, who often abandon them, especially during sea journeys, after receiving thousands of dollars from each migrant. Others are stopped by Turkish security forces before crossing the border into the European Union.
The latest statistics, between 2010 and 2023, show Türkiye rescued 184,175 irregular migrants from its seas after they put their lives in danger with the hope of reaching Europe. Some 923 migrants, on the other hand, ended up dead on perilous journeys in the same period, while 503 people remain unaccounted for after their boats sank.
In 2023, authorities intercepted 254,000 irregular migrants and arrested 3,744 migrant smuggling organizers.
More than 3,150 migrants died or disappeared in the Mediterranean last year, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
The central Mediterranean is the deadliest known migration route in the world, accounting for 80% of the deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean.
Türkiye, which already hosts 4 million refugees, more than any other country in the world, is taking new measures at its borders to prevent a fresh influx of migrants, balancing a humanitarian policy and the need to stop thousands from risking their lives.
As most irregular migrants try to infiltrate Türkiye through its eastern borders, the country recently began constructing a security wall. Authorities say 80% of the wall and a 1,234-kilometer (767-mile) patrolling strip next to the wall are completed, with the remaining section set to be completed within the year.
The Directorate of Migration set up "mobile migration points" to speed up the processing of irregular migrants. The migration points, the first of its kind in the world, help law enforcement in the field to check for irregular migrants.