The Human Rights Watch group said hundreds of Syrian men and boys were detained, beaten and forcibly returned to their countries by Turkish authorities over a period of six months.
The Human Rights Watch group said hundreds of Syrian men and boys were detained, beaten and forcibly returned to their countries by Turkish authorities over a period of six months.
Hundreds of Syrian men and boys were detained, beaten and forcibly returned to their countries by Turkish authorities over a six-month period, a leading human rights group said on Monday.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report that the treatment of migrants living in Turkey under temporary protection violates international law.
The Turkish government has in the past dismissed allegations of forcibly returning refugees to Syria.
Turkey has the world’s largest refugee population, mostly 3.6 million Syrians who fled the decade-long war in their country.
Human Rights Watch said Syrians in exile told researchers that Turkish authorities arrested them in their homes, workplaces and on the street. They were then detained under poor conditions, most of whom were beaten and abused, and were forced to “voluntarily” sign documents agreeing to return to Syria.
After being handcuffed to the Syrian border – sometimes traveling for up to 21 hours – they were forced at gunpoint, the Syrians said.
Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “In violation of international law, Turkish authorities have detained hundreds of Syrian refugees, even single children, and forced them to return to northern Syria. forced.”
The legal principle of non-plagiarism, which is bound by the Ankara International Treaty, prohibits anyone returning to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture or endangerment to life. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria reiterated last month that Syria was not safe for the returnees.
In the midst of a severe economic crisis, with attacks on Syrian homes and businesses, sentiment towards refugees in Turkey has worsened.
Facing near-term elections, the government aims to return a growing number of people to areas of northern Syria now under Turkish military control.
Earlier this month a Turkish official said about 527,000 Syrians had returned voluntarily. Announcing a house-building project in Syria’s northwest Idlib region in May, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it would facilitate the return of one million refugees from Turkey.
Erdogan has signaled a recent policy change towards Syria, suggesting the possibility of talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Ankara had previously called for Assad’s removal because he supported opposition groups. Many Syrians living in Turkey fear a heating up of relations could put pressure on them to return.
“Although Turkey provided temporary protection to 3.6 million Syrian refugees, it now looks like Turkey is trying to turn northern Syria into a refugee dumping ground,” Hardman said.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 37 Syrian men and two boys, as well as relatives of Syrian deportees, between February and August.
They all said they had been deported along with dozens or hundreds of others and were forced to sign forms deemed voluntary repatriation agreements. A 26-year-old man from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo said a Turkish official told him that anyone who tried to re-enter Turkey would be shot.
Hardman said the EU should suspend its funding of anti-migration and border controls until the forced deportation ends. Under a 2016 deal, the European Union provided Turkey with 6 billion euros in aid in exchange for reducing the flow of migrants to Europe.