Surrey RCMP says it has turned two Turkish citizens — a man and a woman — over to Canadian immigration officials after they were arrested by officers on Saturday for entering B.C. from the U.S. illegally.

"The two were detained under the Immigration Act and were cooperative with police," said Surrey RCMP in a release.

The force says it cannot confirm if the couple are seeking refugee status in Canada, due to a language barrier.

Only had personal belongings

Officers confirmed that any criminal investigation involving smuggling or crime has been ruled out.

They say the man and the woman only had personal belongings in their possession when they were reported to police, who found them in the area of 170th Street and 0 Avenue around 7:20 a.m. PT on Saturday.

Surrey RCMP says officers deal with illegal crossings at B.C. borders weekly, and issued a release about this one because members of the media happened to be in the area and witnessed the initial arrest.

Refugee claims on the rise?

According to the Canada Border Service Agency in January 2017, 72 individuals made refugee claims either at a Pacific region designated port of entry (POE) or a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) inland office.

That's 13 more compared to January 2016.

The majority of those claims came from people who were from Afghanistan, India, Mexico and China.

Land border refugee claims for the Pacific region for the past four years are: