52 illegal Afghan migrants arrested in Turkey

KABUL (Pajhwok): Turkish police have identified and arrested 52 illegal Afghan migrants who were hiding in a truck’s fuel tank in southeastern Gaziantep city, a media report said on Monday.

The migrants hiding in the fuel tank of a truck were arrested, with two people losing their lives and seven other in a critical condition for want of oxygen.

Gaziantep police headquarters transferred 43 illegal migrants to deportation centres and arrested the truck driver and two other people.

In recent months, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan have toughened their positions on illegal migrants, deporting them to their countries.

In the past two days, Turkey was arrested more than 90 illegal Afghan citizens who are going to be deported shortly.

A day earlier, Turkish police had detained 40 Afghan migrants during an inspection of cargo vehicles in the Amasya city.

The Turkish Ministry of Interior says the country had arrested 68,687 illegal Afghan refugees in 2023 and most of them were deported.

The Turkish government has recently increased restrictions on immigrants who enter the country illegally.

Currently, more than 300,000 Afghan migrants are living in Turkey, official statistics reveal.

hz/mud

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