World’s refugees rush to Turkey on way to EU

Visa policies are causing Turkey to become a way station for refugees from around the world hoping to cross into Europe, a parliamentary report says Turkey has increasingly become a bridge for human trafficking, as citizens of developing countries exploit its visa exemption policies to use its territory as a stepping stone to reach Europe, according to a parliamentary report.

A commission from Parliament's Human Rights Committee on the issue conducted research on the border with Greece and Bulgaria and prepared a report.

The report found that even people from as far away as the Dominican Republic are being captured at border crossings in the northwestern province of Edirne.

It also cited the mountainous terrain in the eastern part of Turkey, the country's open-door policy vis-à-vis Syrian refugees, and visa exemption practices with a number of developing countries as contributing factors attracting people to Turkey ahead of illegal crossing attempts.

Most recently, coast guards caught 41 illegal migrants off the Aegean district of Ayvalık as they were sailing to Lesbos in Greece.

The Human Rights Committee also conducted research on refugees who have fled from Iraq and Syria, particularly on Yazidis from Iraq and on Syrians that have fled from Kobane amid attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Iraqi Yazidis, who were met by committee member deputies, vowed that they would not go back to their country and were aiming to go on to European countries, according to the report.

In September and October, around 190,000 refugees entered Turkey from Kobane, while 820 trucks of humanitarian aid were delivered to the Kurdish city, according to the report, which...