Turkish police detain 12 Pakistani refugees claiming to be Afghans
Turkish police have detained 12 Pakistani refugees who claimed to be Afghans in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri.
Duvar English
Turkish police on July 14 detained 12 Pakistani refugees who claimed to be Afghans during road controls in the Kocasinan district of the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri.
The refugees entered the country illegally from the eastern province of Van and were trying to get to Istanbul.
The bus carrying them broke down on the road and the refugees transferred to another bus, which was stopped by police.
Officers determined that the refugees' papers that said they're from Afghanistan were fake and found out that they're actually Pakistanis.
Twelve refugees, the bus driver and the bus company officials were detained.
An investigation was launched into the incident.
Turkey has been a key transit point for migrants aiming to cross into Europe. Migrants, mostly from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, regularly cross the Iranian border into Turkey on foot before being ferried west to cities such as Istanbul and Ankara.