“In violation of international law, Turkish authorities rounded up hundreds of Syrian refugees, including unaccompanied minors, and forced them to return to northern Syria,” Human Rights Watch said.
Refugees told the organization that they were detained at home, at work or on the street.
Turkish authorities detained them in precarious conditions, beaten and forced them to sign voluntary declarations to return to Syria, and took them to checkpoints where they were forced to cross the border at gunpoint, Human Rights Watch said in a report. report.
The organization revealed that it interviewed 37 refugees forced to return to Syria from Turkey between February and August.
“Although Turkey has provided temporary shelter to 3.6 million Syrian refugees, it now appears that Turkey is trying to turn northern Syria into a refugee dump,” a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch said.
As the economic crisis intensified, negative sentiment towards Syrian refugees strengthened in Turkish society.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in May that he intends to facilitate the voluntary return of one million refugees to his country, especially to northern Syria.
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