Turkey, Lebanon deport hundreds of Syrians
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Turkish and Lebanese authorities deported about 750 Syrian refugees to Syria in the past 24 hours.
The Turkish authorities deported on Monday evening about 450 Syrians through Bab al-Salama border crossing in Azaz region, northwestern Syria, which is under the control of the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA).
An official in the crossing said the deportees included 80 women, adding that the authorities detained them for a week before deporting them.
After they crossed the border, the Turkish-backed Military Police faction detained all the deportees in the village of Sijo, north of Azaz, and imposed royalties ranged between 800 and 1,000 Turkish Lira to release them, according to the official.
The Lebanese authorities deported on Tuesday more than 300 Syrians to the government-held areas.
According to figures released by the government of Lebanon in December 2023, Lebanon is home to over 1.5 million Syrians, the majority of whom are refugees, divided into registered and unregistered individuals on the lists of the Refugee Commission. 800,000 of those refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In a report released early in May, the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Syria continued to be the largest origin of refugees in the world at the end of 2022 as the number amounted to 6.5 million, although this was a decrease from 6.8 million in 2021.
The IOM noted to a rise in xenophobia and racist attacks against Syrian refugees in Turkey and Lebanon, saying that a surge in anti-immigrant sentiment has resulted in racialized assaults on Syrian migrants.