Turkey deports over 18,000 refugees to Syria in February
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Turkish authorities deported over 18,000 Syrian refugees from Turkey to northern Syria in February.
Sources at three border crossings in northern Syria on the border with Turkey revealed Turkish authorities forcibly deported more than 18,000 Syrian refugees in February.
An official at the Bab al-Hawa crossing in the north of Idlib, northwestern Syria, said that 8,700 Syrian refugees were deported by Turkey in February to areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front).
According to an official at Bab al-Salama border crossing approximately 6,400 Syrian refugees were deported from Turkey in February.
Additionally, an official at the Tel Abyad border crossing in the north of Raqqa, northern Syria, said that Turkish authorities deported 3,000 Syrians in that same month.
The sources pointed out that around 1,650 women and children were among the deportees, most of them were deported through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
Even though the majority of these refugees possess Temporary Protection Cards (Kimlik) for over ten years, the Turkish authorities continue to claim the refugees return to Syria return voluntarily.