HRW: Turkiye Deported Hundreds of Refugees to Syria

New York, MINA – Turkish authorities deported hundreds of Syrian refugee men and boys to Syria between February and July 2022, a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW), MEMO reported.

“We wrote hundreds, but I imagine it’s maybe the tip of the iceberg,” said Nadia Hardman, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, and co-author of the report.

Deported Syrians told Human Rights Watch that Turkish officials arrested them in their homes, workplaces, and on the street, detained them in poor conditions, and beat and abused most of them. They were forced to sign voluntary return forms, driven to the border crossing points with northern Syria, and forced across at gunpoint.

Turkiye’s plan to resettle the Syrian refugees created a chaotic environment in the country. In May 2022, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye said that he intends to resettle one million refugees in northern Syria, in areas not controlled by the government, even though Syria remains unsafe for returning refugees.(T/R3/RE1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)