Forcible repatriation | Panic prevails among Syrians in Turkey amid concerns about repatriating more refugees
As Ankara continues repatriating Syrian refugees under the pretext of “resettling them in the so called ‘safe zone’ in the areas controlled by Turkish forces and their proxy factions in north Syria,” namely “Euphrates Shield,” “Olive Branch” and “Peace Spring” areas. Ironically, those areas have been experiencing escalating security chaos, and deteriorating and economic situation, which make them an inappropriate place for accommodating extra population.
Recently, repatriation of Syrians, mostly young people, from Turkey has noticeably escalated, while there are no legal reasons behind repatriating them, especially since most of the recently-repatriated Syrians have had the temporary protection cards “Kimlik” which are issued by the Turkish government and grant refugees temporary residency in specific Turkish provinces. Holders of such cards are supposed to be protected from being forced to repatriated to their countries without their acceptance. However, Turkish authorities have repatriated several batches of Syrian refugees to Syria, via Bab-Al-Salama crossing run by Turkish-backed factions.
Yesterday, SOHR sources reported that Turkish authorities repatriated nearly 100 Syrian refugees from Turkey to Syria, via Bab-Al-Salama crossing. Two days earlier, December 7, SOHR sources reported the repatriation of other 35 Syrian refugees who had “Kimlik.”
The recent forcible repatriation has deepened the sufferings of refugees and contributed to splitting Syrian families in Turkey by repatriating one or more members of a family and maintaining the remaining members of the same family in Turkey. Moreover, the repatriated Syrians find no place to live in, because of the overpopulation and congestion in refugee camps in north Syria; let alone the dreadful living conditions and high rental fees of houses.
Speaking to SOHR, a lady known by her initials as M. S. from the western countryside of Hama, who was repatriated with her husband in September, says “I have stayed with my husband and children in Turkey since 2013, precisely in a border village nearby the Turkish city of Al-Rayhaniya. We were repatriated for ‘having no fixed residence.’ We live now in a camp near Kafr Takharim town in Idlib countryside. The decision of repatriating us was surprising, as we had Kimlik. Accordingly, my children left their schools in Turkey and have failed so far to register in any schools in north Syria. Moreover, the support which had been provided to us when we were in Turkey has been suspended. Also, we have no private home to live in until now, and we found ourselves obligated to live with my husband’s family in their small house.”
The woman has described the forcible repatriation practiced by Turkey as “unjust,” clarifying that everyone arrested at security checkpoints are repatriated under various pretexts, such as “having no temporary protection cards and violating laws.” The woman believes that these practices are intentional in order to gradually repatriate all Syrian refugees from Turkey.
On the other hand, Turkish authorities have disregarded the exceptional circumstances of Syrians in Turkey, where humanitarian cases and patients have not excluded from the policy of forcible repatriation. In this context, SOHR sources reported, on November 27, that Turkish authorities detained the wife of “Abd Al-Rahman Issa,” a media activist from Al-Habit town in southern Idlib countryside, and her child who suffers from heart disease with the aim of deporting them to Syria, despite the need for the child to continue his treatment in a health centre in Turkey, as his health condition would deteriorate if he was deported to Syria.
Turkey has been the most prominent destination for hundreds of thousands of Syrians since the onset of the Syrian Revolution and the following conflicts in 2011. With the beginning of Syria’s crisis, Ankara opened border crossings with Syria to receive all Syrians fleeing from the war and its scourage, before the Turkish authorities imposed strict measures a few years later to stop the influx of refugees into Turkey. Those strict measures coincided with growing anti-refugee sentiment, as well as racist rhetoric and language, which was followed by repatriating a large number of Syrian refugees from Turkey as a part of efforts by Erdogan’s government to repatriate all Syrian refugees from Turkey before the coming presidential election scheduled in 2023 with the aim of appeasing opposition parties.