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With outside temperatures reaching moderate summer degrees, the migrants hiding inside the tanker are believed to have been exposed to rising heat | Screenshot: Bitlis Emniyet Müdürlüğü (Bitlis Authority for Security) via X
With outside temperatures reaching moderate summer degrees, the migrants hiding inside the tanker are believed to have been exposed to rising heat | Screenshot: Bitlis Emniyet Müdürlüğü (Bitlis Authority for Security) via X

Turkey: 30 migrants freed from tanker to be deported

Latest update : 2026/06/05
By Sertan Sanderson Latest update : 2026/06/05

Authorities in Turkey have discovered 30 irregular migrants hiding inside a tanker on the back of a truck near the Iranian border. The event reportedly took place in the southeast of the country.

Police posted an official video on social media on Wednesday (June 3), showing officials in the eastern Bitlis province pulling multiple individuals out of the tanker through a hatch on the top side of the structure.

The video further shows some of the migrants being taken to a court building in Bitlis in a minivan before then being transported to what appears to be a temporary accommodation facility.

The Sabah daily newspaper meanwhile said that the migrants had been handed over to the Bitlis Provincial Migration Administration Directorate for deportation.

Authorities did not disclose where the 30 irregular migrants -- all believed to be men -- were originally from.

However, some media reports, including the French AFP news agency, did highlight that the operation took place about 300 kilometers away from the border with Iran -- instead of referring to the borders of Syria and Iraq, which are closer to the site of the discovery (about 150 kilometers each).

Most irregular migrants reaching Turkey using the route from Iran tend to be Afghan nationals; to a lesser extent, there are also Iranian nationals among these groups of migrants occasionally.

Each person had to be removed individually from a hatch located at the top of the tanker | Screenshot: Bitlis Emniyet Müdürlüğü via X
Each person had to be removed individually from a hatch located at the top of the tanker | Screenshot: Bitlis Emniyet Müdürlüğü via X

The statement further specified that the migrants would all be deported, stating a zero-tolerance policy on migrant smuggling.

"A suspect involved in organizing this trafficking has been arrested," the post also highlighted, explaining further that authorities from the migrant smuggling enforcement unit of border control were joined by intelligence officials during the operation.

Read Also Fleeing Iranians speak of violent repression at the Turkish border

Turkey: a reluctant crossroads for irregular migrants

Turkey's southeast is a major gateway for migrants hoping to reach the European Union, with the region border several countries with high volumes of irregular migrants.

Clandestine journeys on trucks and tankers are among the preferred smuggling methods used to move people through the region, though a considerable number of people are also known to cross the mountainous border region on foot.

To stop irregular crossings from the east, Turkey started to build a wall along its border with Iran in 2021.

So far, the completed sections of the wall stretch about 380 kilometers, with another 180 under construction. The border fortification project also encompasses trenches all along its entire length and about 250 surveillance towers. 

Read AlsoEU-Turkey migration deal: a mixed record ten years on

with AFP