Turkish soldiers stand guard, Syrian refugees wait behind border fence
Published by Amnesty Insternational on , Index number: EUR 44/3022/2015
In mid to late 2015, political pressure from the EU on Turkey to halt irregular migration to Europe grew, and the two parties signed a migration agreement on 29 November 2015. During the period leading up to and after the signing of the agreement, the Turkish authorities began detaining and deporting refugees and asylum-seekers on a scale not previously seen. This briefing documents the plight of hundreds of refugees and asylum-seekers apprehended near Turkey’s land or sea border with the EU, who have been held in prolonged detention, denied all communication with the outside world and in some cases forcibly returned to Syria and Iraq, in violation of Turkish and international law. The document makes a number of recommendations to the EU and Turkey, calling for an end to these illegal practices, for past cases to be investigated, for victims to be granted full reparations and for independent oversight to monitor the migration deal’s implementation and compliance with international human rights law and standards.
