Turkey deports 42 Syrian refugees to Raqqa’s Tel Abyad
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, Turkish authorities deported 42 Syrians, including women, through the Tal Abyad border crossing in northern Raqqa, northern Syria, despite holding temporary protection ID cards (kimlik).
On Friday, Turkish authorities deported 160 people, including a detained media activist since last year, to Syria from the Tal Abyad crossing, which is controlled by the Turkish-backed opposition factions, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA).
A source told North Press that the deportees, comprised of 34 young men, and eight women with their children, were from the governorates of Deir ez-Zor, Hasakah, and Raqqa.
Upon reaching Syria, they were transferred to a security center of the SNA’s Military Police for investigation.
Turkish authorities have intensified the forcible deportation of Syrians as part of what they call “voluntary return” to safe areas in northern Syria.