Turkey’s coastguard rescued more than a dozen irregular migrants Friday who were illegally attempting to cross into Europe through the Aegean Sea.
15 IRREGULAR MIGRANTS
The local coastguard said a rubber boat carrying 15 irregular migrants, including two infants, as well as an alleged human smuggler sank off the coast of southwestern Mugla province. The infants were taken to a hospital due to hypothermia.
Turkey has been a key transit point for irregular migrants aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
The illegal migration trend gained momentum with the unrest in the Middle East, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Some 268,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to the Interior Ministry.