Turkey has deported 324 undocumented Afghan migrants during operations combatting illegal migration carried out in the country’s Aegean provinces, the Hürriyet Daily News reported on Sunday, citing the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Three hundred twenty-four undocumented Afghan nationals who were rounded up in the Aegean province of İzmir have been deported.
Police also detained 49 undocumented Syrian migrants in Balıkesir province, whose coastal districts provide the main transit routes used by migrants to go to Greece, particularly to Lesbos Island.
Coast guard units in addition captured 38 Syrians who were attempting to cross into Greece from the Mediterranean resort province of Antalya.
The migrants, including women and children, were sent to regional immigration centers.
Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of a civil war in Syria in 2011.
Hundreds of Afghan migrants were deported from Turkey in April, with plans in place to repatriate some 3,000 Afghans currently sheltering in the eastern Turkish province of Erzurum.