Izmir shopkeepers selling life vests to would-be migrants
Several shops around the Turkish port of Izmir are seeking to cash in on a flood of would-be immigrants trying to reach Greece by selling life vests, according to local news reports.
According to Hurriyet Daily News, the trend is particularly strong in Basmane, an Izmir neighborhood where shopkeepers are said to have included life vests and similar equipment on their shelves in a bid to target hundreds of refugees, chiefly from Iraq, Somalia and Syria.
Some 5,789 would-be migrants have been detained so far this year by the Turkish coast guard in the Aegean Sea, according to Hurriyet, which describes Izmir as a hub for migrants seeking to reach Greece illegally.
