Turkey’s forced deportations and violence against Syrians

On 29 August, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Turkish authorities had deported 70 Syrians, bringing the total number of refugees deported in the last 72 hours to 170. While Syrian citizens are being forcibly deported, Turkish border guards are violently pushing Syrians back into Syria as they try to enter Turkey in search of safety.

Women and children also forcibly deported

Turkish authorities deported around 50 Syrian refugees to Turkish-occupied territory after forcing them to sign voluntary return documents. Meanwhile, Turkey deported another 20 Syrian refugees to Ras Al-Ain, making a total of 170 Syrians deported in the last 72 hours. On 26 August, more than 100 Syrian refugees, including 23 women and children, were also deported through the Tel Abyad border crossing, SOHR said in a statement.

According to SOHR sources, the deported refugees are suffering from difficult humanitarian and living conditions. The Observatory called on the international community and humanitarian organizations to prioritize addressing the causes of the forced deportation of Syrian refugees from Turkey, especially in light of the lack of basic livelihoods and the ongoing security chaos in the face of the ongoing military conflict in Syria.

Torture and killings at the border

Another problem reported by SOHR sources was violence at the border. 15 Syrian civilians were arrested by Turkish border guards (gendarmerie) while trying to sneak into Turkey from the village of Al-Tulul in the Idlib countryside. SOHR said that the Turkish gendarmerie brutally beat and tortured the civilians before pushing them back into Syrian territory. In its latest statement, the Observatory reported that a young man from Kafr Nabl in the Idlib countryside was shot dead by Turkish border guards (gendarmerie) while trying to enter Turkey via Salqin.

Last week, SOHR sources also reported that a young man from al-Quneitra province died as a result of severe injuries he sustained after being tortured by Turkish border guards (gendarmerie) at the Syrian-Turkish border while trying to cross into Turkey from the countryside of Ras Al-Ain, north of al-Hasakah. The young man, who suffered fractures in his body, died from the effects of his injuries after falling into a coma.

The Observatory reported that the number of civilians killed by Turkish border guards in different areas near the Syrian-Turkish border has risen to 22 since the beginning of 2023, while 36 civilians, including a child and three women, were wounded by Turkish gendarmerie fire.