Turkish media have reported that the country’s police arrested 32 Afghan migrants who were hidden in a sewage tanker truck.
According to the reports, police in Diyarbakır, during an operation on Friday, discovered and detained the Afghan migrants who had concealed themselves inside the tank of a sewage vehicle.
Based on the report, the detained individuals were transferred to deportation centers for foreigners after undergoing medical examinations.
Turkish media wrote: “As a result of an operation conducted by the Directorate for Combating Migrant Smuggling and Border Gates, a suspicious tow truck and its attached sewage tanker were stopped. During the operation, 32 undocumented Afghan migrants, who were being transported in inhumane conditions, were captured.”
Wahid Amini, an Afghan migrant in Turkey, said: “Thousands of Afghan migrants remain in limbo in camps. Some have even lost their lives at border crossings due to the cold.”
The report also stated that, in addition to the Afghan migrants, five others were arrested on charges of organizing human trafficking.
This comes as the Turkish Directorate of Migration previously announced that over the past calendar year, 42,000 undocumented Afghan migrants were detained—making Afghans the largest group of detained foreign nationals in Turkey.
But what is driving so many Afghans to leave the country through irregular migration?
Ahmad Faisal, a returnee from Turkey, said: “Unemployment and poor economic conditions have led many young people to abandon their homeland and seek illegal entry into other countries to find work and support their families.”
Mohammad Khan Talebi Mohammadzai, a migration expert, stated: “The current government of Afghanistan, in cooperation with international organizations, must work to provide housing, job opportunities, and livelihoods for citizens.”
This comes as Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation previously announced that 1,821,000 individuals have been returned from Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey since the start of the current year.
