SNA faction arrests Syrians deported from Turkey

HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – A Turkish-backed armed opposition faction arrested on Sunday seven Syrian people, including a woman, in a city north of Hasakah Governorate in northeastern Syria, hours after they were deported from Turkey.

The Military Police, a faction within the Syrian National Army (SNA), arrested the deportees from the border crossing in the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) without any charges, a source from the faction told North Press.

Sere Kaniye, a Kurdish city in the north of Hasakah, has been under the occupation of the Turkish forces and their affiliated SNA factions since October 2019 after launching the so-called “Peace Spring” military operation to push away the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from the Turkish southern border under the pretext of protecting Turkey’s national security.

The source added that five of the arrestees are the original people of Sere Kaniye and they work as farmers.

He indicated that arresting Syrians who are being deported from Turkey are ongoing. They release them for ransoms.

Turkey has repeatedly – and illegally – deported Syrian refugees under the pretext of violating asylum laws and not amending their data regarding the temporary protection ID card, also known as Kimlik.

In May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey would deport one million Syrian refugees to northern Syria without identifying a specific time for commencing the process.

To achieve this, the Turkish state has started building dozens of settlements in the northern cities of Syria which it has occupied including Afrin, Azaz, al-Bab, Jarablus, Sere Kaniye, and Tel Abyad.

Reporting by Hani Salem