HRW: Turkey arbitrarily deported hundreds of Syrian refugees

While the Turkish occupation state authorities are promoting the "voluntary return" of Syrian refugees, a Human Rights Watch report revealed that Ankara arbitrarily arrested, detained, and deported hundreds of Syrian refugee men and boys to Syria between February and July 2022.

" In violation of international law, Turkish authorities have detained hundreds of Syrian refugees, even unaccompanied children, and forced them to return to northern Syria,” said Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"Turkey is obligated under treaty and customary international law to respect the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning anyone to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture or other ill-treatment, or a threat to life," Human Rights Watch said.

It added, "Turkey should not force people to return to places where they face serious harm. Turkey should protect the basic rights of all Syrians, regardless of where they are registered, and not deport refugees who live and work in a city other than the one where their identities and temporary protection addresses are registered." .

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