Irregular migration

BUDAPEST - Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Tuesday in Budapest Serbia's treatment of migrants was on a "high civilisational level" and that Serbia and Hungary had managed to halt illegal migration to Hungary almost completely.

Unauthorized migration to European Union countries dropped significantly overall in the first eight months of this year, even as political rhetoric and violence against migrants increased and far-right parties espousing anti-immigration policies made gains at the polls.

Nearly 401,000 irregular migrants voluntarily left Türkiye over a period of nearly a year without any coercion or deportation, the head of the migration body has revealed.

Attila Toros spoke to daily Hürriyet during an inspection in the capital Ankara via "mobile migration units" — vehicles designed to expeditiously monitor migrants' residence permits.

The Interior Ministry has heightened its scrutiny over illegal migrants in Istanbul, nearly doubling the number of checkpoints dispersed throughout the city, Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has engaged in a series of bilateral discussions with Greek Shipping and Island Policy Minister Christos Stylianidis, focusing primarily on addressing irregular migration in the Aegean Sea.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday commended the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, agreed by the European Union last month, emphasizing that the bloc's credibility is intricately linked to its success in addressing this challenge.

The European Union is in a "global race" with the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to scoop up skilled migrants, the European Commission has acknowledged.

"Europe is engaged in a global race for talent, the same way that we are fighting a global race for raw materials, for energy," Commissioner Margaritis Schinas said.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has said his ministry will strengthen measures and inspection against irregular migration across the country when the deportation center in Istanbul will be put into service on Oct. 1.

Migration Minister Dimitris Keridis said he learned "with great sadness of the deaths of at least 18 migrants in the fire in the Dadia forest."

Eighteen burned bodies were found on Tuesday in a rural area in the northeast of the country where wildfires have been burning out of control for a fourth day.

The Turkish Interior Ministry has confirmed its collaboration with the U.K. to tackle illegal migration, stressing the agreement on intelligence sharing, particularly in combating migrant smugglers and addressing this mechanism.