The Turkish coastguard on Sunday stopped five boats carrying dozens of illegal migrants heading for the Greek island of Lesvos, according to an AFP report.
A coastguard vessel spotted the boats about four miles off the shore of Dikili town in Izmir province as they were trying to reach Lesvos. The coastguard stopped the boats and took the migrants back to shore where they were handed over to the police.
Turkish authorities discovered that most of the migrants were from Myanmar, who were forced to leave because they were persecuted in their country.
“There is a planned massacre against Muslims in the country we live,” one of the migrants told Turkish news agency Dogan.
According to the report, the migrants were members of Myanmar’s Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority that has been targeted by violent attacks and state-sanctioned discrimination in the Buddhist-majority state.
Migrant flow to Greece has decreased significantly after Turkey agreed with the European Union to receive back all refugees who arrive to Greece via the Turkish coasts.
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