Home Press releases & statements Escalation of Threats and Violence Against Syrian Refugees in Turkey: An Urgent Call to Protect Human Rights

Escalation of Threats and Violence Against Syrian Refugees in Turkey: An Urgent Call to Protect Human Rights

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In recent days, Türkiye has witnessed campaigns of incitement and violence against Syrian refugees, affecting all Syrians and their properties. These incidents began in the city of Kayseri and have spread to other Turkish cities. This followed an escalation in political incitement against Syrians and a tightening of arbitrary forced deportation measures. Syrians in Türkiye have been suffering for some time from various challenges related to their legal status, access to official documents, difficult living conditions, the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, and ongoing arbitrary forced deportation campaigns, falsely termed as voluntary return. Additionally, there is a lack of clarity in some official Turkish procedures in dealing with these issues, coupled with the exploitation of the Syrian refugee crisis in Turkish elections through racist rhetoric adopted by many Turkish political parties.

This situation has led to acts of violence and riots against Syrians in Türkiye, affecting their lives and properties, resulting in casualties in many Turkish provinces, and has significantly escalated in recent days. This is due to the lack of decisive measures against racist rhetoric targeting Syrian refugees by the Turkish government, in addition to making the Turkish Immigration Directorate the sole authority responsible for resolving any legal issues faced by Syrians as individuals and as a community, depriving the Syrian refugee community of the ability to demand their rights through Turkish judicial bodies. The deportation operations and Turkish political rhetoric have also led to protests and violence, resulting in numerous casualties in northern Syria.

As Syrian civil society organizations, we call on the Turkish government to fulfill its national and international commitments related to protecting human rights, especially the rights of refugees and displaced persons on its territory. We also urge the Turkish government to adhere to the principle of non-refoulement, especially since Syria, in the current situation, is not safe for the return of millions of Syrian refugees, as confirmed by reports from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI-Syria) regarding the ongoing gross human rights violations in Syria. This highlights the urgent need to protect Syrian refugees and displaced persons from being subjected to these harsh and dangerous conditions.

Furthermore, we call on the Turkish government to take immediate measures to protect Syrians in Türkiye and ensure their basic rights and dignity. We also urge the Turkish government and the international community to work together to provide necessary support to refugees and displaced persons, ensure a safe and dignified life for them within the country, and find practical, comprehensive solutions to alleviate the suffering of Syrians and address the impacts of the Syrian refugee crisis in Türkiye. This includes working on a broad plan for the integration of Syrian refugees and combating hate speech and racist rhetoric against them, acknowledging that Turkey has borne the burden of hosting Syrian refugees over the past years.

We also call on donor communities funding the response to Syrian refugees in neighboring countries to ensure that the funding allocated for refugee support is not used in the coercive measures exercised by the Turkish Immigration Directorate against Syrian refugees.

The vast majority of Syrians look forward to the day when Syria becomes a safe country for their return, freeing them from the reasons for their displacement abroad, and rebuilding their country in a way that guarantees the dignity, security, and freedom of its people, and respects the rights, interests, and sovereignty of neighboring countries reciprocally. Until that day comes, we call for addressing the current escalation and violence against Syrians, protecting them, and addressing the challenges of Syrian asylum in Turkey in accordance with the provisions of law and international agreements.

Organizations:

  1. Aata for Development
  2. Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR)
  3. Albaghooz Hope for Development
  4. Almasa Center for Studies, Research
  5. Americans for Free Syria
  6. Analysis and Strategic Studies Organization
  7. ASO Center for Consultancy and Strategic Studies
  8. Association of Victims of Chemical Weapons
  9. Awda For Development
  10. Badael
  11. Bader For Community Development
  12. Baytna pour le soutien de la société civile
  13. Bercav Origination
  14. Caesar Families Association
  15. Cevher organization
  16. ChangeMakers
  17. Child Guardians
  18. Damma.hug
  19. Democratic women
  20. Derina Organization
  21. Dozana
  22. Duderi
  23. Engineering for Services
  24. Ensaf for Development
  25. Families for freedom movement
  26. Fanarat organization
  27. Feminist
  28. Finjan
  29. For us
  30. Gathering of Kurdish civil forces in Syria
  31. House of citizenship
  32. HRAK
  33. Humanitarian Care Charity
  34. Huquqyat
  35. Ishtar Development Organization
  36. ISO
  37. Jsor Alamal
  38. Judy Organization for Relief and Development (JORD)
  39. Kurdish feminist voices
  40. LACU
  41. Lawyers and Doctors for Human Rights LDHR
  42. Lelun Association for Victims
  43. Local Community Empowerment
  44. Lyktan Sverige
  45. Mahabad Organization for Human Rights MOHR
  46. MultiFaith Alliance
  47. Musawa
  48. National Dialogue Forum
  49. Orchid
  50. Pro-justice
  51. Release Me
  52. Sadad Humanitarian Organization
  53. Sanabel al Furat
  54. SOBH CULTURAL TEAM
  55. SYCAC
  56. Synergy Association for Victims
  57. Syria Research Group
  58. Syrian British Consortium (SBC)
  59. Syrian Center for Community Development
  60. Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Reacher (SCHSR)
  61. Syrian Center For Media And Freedom Of Expression (SCM)
  62. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)
  63. Syrian Swedish Association
  64. Syrian Women Network
  65. Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ)
  66. Syrians Gathered
  67. Tayif Humanitarian Organization
  68. The Day After
  69. The EMPOWER PEACE INITIATIVES AND STRATEGIC OF ACTION Organization.
  70. The Syrian Legal Development Programme
  71. TRAHOM
  72. Union of Revolutionary Bureaus
  73. Université Libre de Bruxelles

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