Turkey deported 1,000 Syrian refugees in week
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Turkish authorities deported on Friday 150 Syrian refugees including women and children to the opposition-held areas in Idlib Governorate in northwest Syria, bringing the number of those deported in a week to 1,000.
“Turkish border guards deported today 150 Syrian refugees including 51 women with their children through Bab al-Hawa crossing without informing their families,” an administrative source in the crossing told North Press.
The source said that the Turkish authorities took their eye and hand prints and all their identification documents to prevent their return to Turkey.
Though Syria is still unsafe for returns, Turkey tries to get rid of the refugees by forcibly deporting them, as the Turkish authorities have intensified the forced deportation of Syrians, as part of what they call voluntary return to safe areas in northwestern Syria, according to media and documentary reports.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously told reporters that the number of the Syrian refugees who have “voluntarily returned” has exceeded one million and will increase in the future.
According to reports, There are about four million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Since the beginning of July, the Turkish authorities have deported more than 2,500 Syrian refugees, mostly women and children, to the opposition-held areas in northern Syria through the Baba al-Hawa, Tel Abyad, and Bab al-Salama border crossings.