Turkey Says Stopped 0.5 Million Migrants In Last Five Years

ANKARA: Sept 5 (AFP) - Nearly half a million illegal migrants, many seeking a better life in the European Union, have been intercepted in Turkey in the past five years, Anatolia news agency quoted Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu as saying on Sunday.
About 3,000 traffickers have also been rounded during the several hundred operations conducted during the period, Aksu said.
He said the introduction of tougher laws on clandestine immigration had forced trafficking networks to change their routes.
Turkey is a major hub for migrants, many from Asia, trying to reach neighbouring Greece or Italy, either by land or crammed into boats that are often barely seaworthy.
Illegal migrants are arrested almost daily in the country, which spans Asia and Europe.
On Saturday police detained 48 Pakistanis at a house in the Asian part of Istanbul, all hoping to reach Greece. Anatolia said they would be questioned and deported.