![Coast guard members take a girl into the coast guard boat after a boat carrying 42 irregular migrants took on water at Dikili district in Izmir, Turkey october 19, 2019. It was seen that the girl's waist was attached to pet bottles to serve as life vest.
[Sergen Sezgin/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191019_2_38831731_48618912.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Turkish security forces held 577 irregular migrants in northwestern Turkey’s Edirne province, bordering Greece, on Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.
They included Nepali, Indian, Iranian, Afghan, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Syrian, Palestinian, Somalian, Moroccan and Algerian nationals.
The migrants were sent to the provincial migration office for legal procedures.
Turkey has been a key transit point for irregular migrants aiming to cross to Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
Some 268,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to the Interior Ministry, and over 336,000 have been held so far this year.
READ: People smugglers use YouTube to teach migrants how to enter UK
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