Human traffickers and Turkish soldiers working together

Human traffickers have established contacts with soldiers and commanders of the Turkish army stationed at bases along the Syrian border. Mezloum Kajal, an administrator at the Organized Crime Office of the Internal Security Forces in the Euphrates region, spoke to the ANHA news agency about the issue of smuggling people across the border from the regions of northern and eastern Syria.

Since the beginning of 2023, 208 smugglers have been arrested and handed over to the relevant authorities and 1674 people have been detained while trying to cross the border, Kajal said. He noted that smugglers were present in border villages and towns in the Euphrates region on the Turkish border, adding that smugglers gather those who want to cross the border and give them fake identity cards. The official continued: “To facilitate their work, the smugglers meet and trade with Turkish army soldiers and commanders. The Turkish state also wants to evacuate the region and change its demography. Most of those who want to leave are young”.

People cross the border illegally, Kajal said, adding that those who try to flee are beaten and tortured by Turkish army soldiers. On the other hand, the Turkish state has opened the border for young people to cross. The smugglers’ goal is money, Kajal said, pointing out that they receive 2000 US dollars and sometimes more for crossing the border. According to Kajal, many smugglers give a part of the money they receive to Turkish officers who coordinate between them: “According to the information they have and the confessions of the smugglers, half of the smuggled money is given to the officers of the Turkish occupation army.”