Amnesty Says Turkey Forcibly Sending Syrians Home

In a report issued on Friday, the human rights group Amnesty International says that Turkey has been rounding up Syrians who had come while fleeing their country’s civil war, and forcing them to return home. In the middle of 2019, the report says, “it is likely that hundreds of people across Turkey were swept up, detained and transported against their will [back] to one of the world’s most dangerous countries.” The report cites one such person, identified as Farid, who was stopped by police in Istanbul, apparently for a random check, and presented identification papers showing him as having been registered as a refugee in another province. He was detained and sent to several detention centers, at one of them being told to sign a form. “The Arabic interpreter reportedly told him the document simply confirmed receipt of a blanket,” the report says, “But when Farid read the Arabic text on the form, which articulated a desire to return to Syria, he argued with the interpreter, who reportedly put his own signature and fingerprint on the document.” Farid soon found himself on a bus with other refugees, all heading to the Syrian province of Idlib, where fighting still flares up. Ankara denies that it forces refugees to return to Syria.