Romania nabs 24 migrants from Asia, Mideast
(BUCHAREST) - Romanian police on Friday caught 24 illegal migrants from South Asia and the Middle East hiding in a lorry loaded with wooden planks, border police said.
The men and teenagers, aged between 14 and 35, were coming from Iraq, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Iran. Three were Palestinians.
"They intended to illegally leave Romania in order to enter Europe's 25-nation passport-free Schengen zone", border police said.
Last week, 36 migrants from Iraq and Afghanistan were caught at the same border crossing trying to enter Hungary from Romania in a lorry carrying animal food.
Between January and July this year, 274 illegal migrants were nabbed at the Romanian border hiding in lorries, trains or cars, according to border police.
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