Erdogan challenging international law on refugees

Mohamed Abdelghaffar

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had always bragged about offering help to and hosting Syrian refugees in his country.

Developments showed, however, the phony nature of the remarks of the Turkish president in this regard.

Erdogan did not only contradict his statements, but also violated international law.

Refugees

Turkey has received up to 3.7 million Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, according to the Turkish president.

Nevertheless, he did not present any credible evidence of the presence of this large number of refugees in his country.

The Syrians living in Turkey fit into the United Nations definition of refugees.

They escaped their country, leaving a bloody war behind in Syria where terrorist organizations are controlling vast swaths of the Arab country.

Enforced deportation

In this capacity, the Syrians living in Turkey have to enjoy rights guaranteed them by international law and international treaties.

This law and these treaties ban the enforced deportation of the refugees. They also give the refugees the right to return voluntarily to their country.

The fact is that Erdogan does not abide by any of these treaties. He forced the Syrian refugees to leave to the Turkish-Syrian border. He also forced some of the refugees to leave for the Greek border.

Arresting the Syrians

On July 11, 2019, Erdogan met senior leaders of his party to discuss the results of the municipal elections. During the meeting, the Turkish president said his country would take new decisions regarding the Syrian refugees. He said Turkey would encourage the refugees to return to their country.

Turkish authorities translated these statements quickly into action. They arrested Syrian refugees on the streets under the pretext that they violated residence regulations. Turkish authorities also staged raids on the places of the refugees.

They then took large numbers of the refugees in buses and transferred them to the Turkish-Syrian border. They forced them to sign documents in which they testify that they want to return to their country.