Turkish authorities have been accused of turning a blind eye on migrants gathering on the coast to take boats to Europe and of ignoring organised smuggling.
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Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and Iranians were among those arrested in the forests and small beaches targeted, according to Turkish press agencies reported.
It was not clear if Monday’s sweep was directly related to the Turkish commitment to help contain the flow of migrants and officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Three suspected people traffickers were arrested while four boats and six motors were seized, it added.
Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said however that he could not guarantee effective action.
He continued, “But absence of a reference to human rights in the EU-Turkey summit joint statement yesterday and recent remarks from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that the EU should not “harp” on Turkey’s rights record do not bode well”.
The detentions were part of a major operation that was launched on Monday, a day after Turkey and the European Union reached a deal to stem the flow of refugees into Europe.
An estimated 140,000 refugees and migrants reached Europe by sea in November, a big drop from October, although the numbers crossing remain very high and could reach 1 million for the year, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.
After a lull of a few days, the number of arrivals picked up again over the weekend with more than 5,000 people arriving on Lesvos alone in the past two days, fueling concern among authorities who remain ill-equipped to handle the influx.
“I wish I could say that the number of migrants will decline, but we cannot say this because we don’t know will be going on in Syria”.
The commission will also publish a plan for a voluntary resettlement mechanism for Syrian refugees now living in Turkey.
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Germany and Sweden mostlyThe majority of the refugees fleeing wars and economic hard times have sought asylum in Germany and Sweden.
