Turkish authorities forcibly deported 120 Syrian refugees on Thursday, including women and children, to the Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria via the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, North Press reported on Friday.
An administrative source at the border crossing informed North Press that the deportees were not even allowed to inform their families of their sudden expulsion.
Despite the ongoing instability in Syria, Turkey has been intensifying its forced deportation of Syrian refugees under the guise of voluntary returns to safe areas in northwestern Syria, in the aftermath of May elections where the issue of refugees was hot on the agenda. The Turkish authorities have been collecting eye and hand prints along with all identification documents from the deportees to prevent their return to Turkey.
This week alone, Turkish authorities have deported more than 1,000 Syrians, the majority of whom are women and children, through the Bab al-Hawa, Tal Abyad, and Bab al-Salama border crossings in northern Syria.
The deportations come amidst claims by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that over one million Syrian refugees have “voluntarily returned” and that this number will increase in the future. However, these recent deportations raise questions about the voluntary nature of these returns.
With approximately four million Syrian refugees currently residing in Turkey, these deportations represent a significant shift in Turkey’s refugee policy. Since the beginning of July, Turkish authorities have deported more than 2,500 Syrian refugees, mostly women and children, to opposition-held areas in northern Syria.
