Campaign launched against forced deportation of Syrian refugees in Turkey
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – A web campaign has been posted on social media websites by activists calling for stopping the arbitrary deportation of Syrian refugees in Turkey.
The campaign was launched on the back of Hamza al-Hamami incident in Bağcılar area in Istanbul days ago.
On Wednesday, Turkish authorities issued a decision to deport the Syrian refugee claiming he sat on a chair in front of his shop blocking the passersby from walking in front of the shop in Istanbul.
The Turkish security forces transferred Hamza al-Hamami after arresting him to the Department of Immigration in order to be deported on the back of a video footage that went viral on social media showing al-Hamami sitting on a chair in the middle of a street denouncing the inaction of the Turkish police while being attacked by a Turkish citizen.
The incident took place last week after al-Hamami squabbled with a Turkish citizen for honking the horn of his car, the Turkish citizen, according to the video footage, rushed to attack al-Hamami using a cold weapon.
Also, the web campaign rejects the arbitrary deportation of the Syrians from Turkey.
Bloggers most of them were Syrians posted a hashtag in both languages Arabic and Turkish demanding justice for Hamza.
The campaign aims to “stop practices of the Department of Immigration inside the deportation centers where large numbers of Syrian refugees are detained under the so-called administrative detention.”
The administrative detention is used outside the law “to pressure the refugee to sign the voluntary return document,” according to a statement by activists that has been widely publicized since Friday.
The activists stressed the Turkish Department of Immigration did not consider the documentations and CCTV recordings that proved attacked against Hamza. Now it intends to deport him following five days detention.
The Turkish authorities occasionally arrest Syrian refugees alleging they breach the law. Afterwards, the Turkish authorities decide to deport them forcibly to Syria saying they lack legal documents permitting them to stay in Turkey, reports said.
In October 2021, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced the arrest of some Syrian refugees and threatened to deport them on the wake of videos showing the Syrian refugees eating bananas.
The banana case started when a video was posted on social media in which a Turkish man in Istanbul complaining he “could not afford to buy bananas”, while Syrians could afford “kilograms of bananas”.