The number of irregular migrants crossing into Europe by land and sea from Turkey fell by 17.6 percent to 6,864 in the first four months of 2019 over 8,332 in the same period last year, according to data from the Directorate General of Migration Management.
Turkey’s security measures against irregular migration have yielded positive results, and migrants intending to enter Europe have found it increasingly difficult to use Turkey as a transit route, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
The data indicate that a total of 79,002 irregular migrants consisting of 32,942 Afghans, 11,691 Pakistanis and 6,432 Syrians and other nationalities were apprehended between Jan. 1 and April 25.
The number of Afghan migrants transiting from Turkey to Europe fell by 14 percent and Syrian migrants by 55 percent.
The total number of irregular migrants in Turkey decreased by 2.44 percent compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the number of Afghan migrants deported from Turkey increased by 70 percent and Pakistan by 79 percent, while deportations of nationals form other countries rose by 34 percent compared with the same period of 2018.