Turkey stops more than 400 border jumpers in 24 hours

Turkey stopped more than 400 people trying to illegally cross its borders in a recent 24-hour period, the country’s armed forces said on Wednesday.

In a snapshot of the illicit cross-border traffic on Turkey’s 2,800 kilometer (1,740 miles) land borders, the Turkish General Staff said 432 people were apprehended Tuesday.

On the Syrian border, 342 were stopped crossing from Syria and another five arrested attempting to enter the war-torn country. Turkey shares a 900 km border with its neighbor and has received nearly 2 million refugees from the south.

To the north, 83 people were stopped as they tried to cross into Greece and another two near the Bulgarian border. The path through Turkey has become an important migration route for those seeking to reach the EU.