Refugee pushbacks: Türkiye says rescued over 11,000 migrants in 7 months

Photo: AA/File

Türkiye's Coast Guars has said that is has rescued 11,111 irregular migrants in the Aegean Sea in the first seven months of the year.

A total of 9,973 of the irregular migrants were illegally pushed back to Turkey's territorial waters by Greece, it said.. Some 1,138 others were stranded in the Aegean Sea for various reasons.

Since the beginning of this year, the most push-backs has been recorded in July with 1,933 irregular migrants.

Also, 1,138 irregular immigrants, who came face-to-face with death at sea because of some reasons such as engine failure and flooding of boats and called for help, were brought ashore by the coast guard teams.

The teams also recovered the bodies of seven irregular migrants in the seven months and detained 80 smugglers.

Türkiye has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe.

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