afrinpost – Exclusive
Syrian refugees in Kilis Camp, also known as Al-Bili Camp, located near the Turkish-Syrian border, adjacent to the Bab Al-Salameh crossing in the countryside of Azaz, have been subjected to beatings and harassment by security personnel responsible for guarding the camp. Subsequently, they were forcibly deported to Syrian territories after being coerced into signing “voluntary return” documents.
According to our correspondent, on June 6, Turkish gendarmerie forces physically assaulted most of the men, including a young man named “Tarek Rajab,” who endured severe beatings resulting in broken teeth and injuries all over his body. The victims, including Tarek, were then forced at gunpoint to sign official papers related to voluntary return, and he was denied the right to file a complaint against the guard who assaulted him inside Kilis Camp.
A video clip of Tarek Rajab discussing the details of his assault has been circulating on social media. He mentioned his family, who remained in Turkey while he found himself in northern Syria.
Tarek explained that the Turkish homeowner in Istanbul evicted his wife and infant child due to her inability to pay the rent, prompting her to turn to land crossings in order to return to Syria and reunite with her husband. However, the border authorities refused to let her and the child pass, citing the absence of an official birth certificate registered in the civil registry for the child, who was born in Turkey.
Despite having a birth certificate in her possession from a hospital in Istanbul and her attempts to register the child in the civil registry, the authorities categorically rejected registering the child because the wife did not possess temporary protection status. Consequently, she and her child remained displaced in the streets of Reyhanlı for several days.
Tarek is one of more than 300 Syrians who have been deported to northern Syria in the past two days after being coerced into signing “voluntary return” documents. The men were brutally beaten, insulted, and had their money and cell phones stolen.
Turkish authorities deported approximately 150 Syrian refugees through the Salameh crossing in the countryside of Azaz after detaining them for several days in Kilis Camp. The injured individuals were transferred to the Azaz Hospital in northern Aleppo. Others were deported through the Hammam crossing in the Jindires sub-district of occupied Afrin.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the pace of deportations of Syrians from Turkey has increased after the Turkish elections. Turkish authorities exploit even minor violations as an excuse to deport Syrian refugees without considering their family circumstances. On June 21, 2023, approximately 639 Syrian refugees were deported to northern Syrian areas through the Jarablus and Bab al-Hawa crossings.
