ANKARA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- More than 360 undocumented migrants are being detained in Turkey, security sources were quoted as saying on Friday.
A total of 33 Afghan nationals, including eight children, were held in the Van province, the Anadolu Agency reported, citing security sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the press.
Thirteen Palestinians were detained in the Cesme district in the Aegean province of Izmir, while 59 Syrian nationals attempting to cross into Greece were held in the Dikili district, the report said.
In the Didim district of the Aegean province of Aydin, 47 undocumented migrants were held along with six smugglers, including one Iraqi national, it said.
In the northwestern province of Edirne, 211 undocumented migrants were detained by border patrols in the districts of Bosnakoy, Ipsala, Kesan and Meric, according to the report.
The detainees include Moroccan, Eritrean, Syrian, Pakistani, and Afghan nationals, who attempt to go to Europe via Turkey, which has become a major route for the refugees since 2011, the start of the Syrian civil war.
In 2017, the majority of undocumented migrants detained in Turkey were from Pakistan -- around 15,000 -- followed by Afghans, about 12,000, and Syrians, about 10,000, the report added.
