Turkish authorities seize 330 migrants attempting to cross to Greek island

Published Aug 18, 2019

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ISTANBUL - Turkish authorities have seized

a total of 330 migrants attempting to cross to the Greek island

of Lesbos, officials said on Sunday.

The coastguard in the Kucukkuyu area of the western

Canakkale province said it had conducted seven operations to

pick up migrants trying to make the crossing since Saturday

evening.

The migrants seized were Afghan, Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi

nationals, it said, adding that the number attempting to cross

to Lesbos had surged recently and that 699 people had been

seized since Aug. 10.

Mediterranean arrivals into the European Union, including

migrants making the longer and more perilous crossing from north

Africa to Italy, totalled 172,301 in 2017, down from 362,753 in

2016 and over a million in 2015, according to U.N. data.

Numbers declined sharply since 2015 after Turkey, in

exchange for 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in European Union

aid and a promise to ease visa restrictions for Turks, began to

exert more control on migrants trying to cross to the EU via its

territory.

Yet many still attempt the short but perilous sea trip and

Turkey remains one of the main launch points. 

Reuters

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