Turkiye deports 2 Moroccans to north Syria

Authorities in Turkiye deported two Moroccan nationals to northern Syria earlier this year, amid Turkish security services’ increased campaign to round up and deport irregular migrants to Syria based on a set quota.

Media reports this week revealed that two Moroccan citizens – Azeddin Al-Remash and Nabil Rochdi – were caught attempting to illegally enter into Europe through Turkiye’s land border and had, subsequently, been deported to rebel-held northern Syria.

According to the London-based news outlet, Middle East Eye, 27-year-old Remash had attempted to cross into Greece when he was caught and sent to a deportation centre in Edirne and, later, Anada in southern Turkiye. 

“I informed Turkish authorities of my Moroccan citizenship and presented my papers. However, they insisted on sending me to Syria, disregarding my claims”, the paper quoted him as saying. “They didn’t even provide an interpreter to [translate to] us. Despite our efforts to communicate, they sent us to Syria against our will. I have no connection to Syria.”

As for 30-year-old Rochdi, he reportedly landed at Turkiye’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport before attempting to cross into neighbouring Bulgaria, when Turkish soldiers apprehended him. “Despite my repeated statements that I am not Syrian, they forcibly sent me to Syria,” Rochdi said. “I informed them that I should be returned to Morocco, but my pleas were ignored. With no translators present, we struggled to contact Moroccan authorities.”

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The two Moroccans were deported in January to the northern Syrian city of Azaz, controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian opposition groups. There, the head of Turkiye’s anti-smuggling and drug department at the nearby Bab Al-Salama border crossing revealed to local media that the Moroccan Embassy in Ankara had blocked the men’s phone numbers due to their repeated attempts to contact consular services.

The men’s case is now reportedly handed over to the Court in Azaz, with their passports and national IDs having been sent over from Istanbul. According to Middle East Eye, anonymous Turkish officials have informed it that state institutions in Turkiye that are responsible for northern Syria are monitoring the situation and taking necessary steps to ensure the safe return of Moroccan nationals to their country.

For now, however, the Moroccans’ situation remains in limbo, and resembles the case of four Afghan migrants who are also stranded in Syria – specifically the north-western province of Idlib – after their deportation by Turkish authorities.

The deportations are casualties of Turkiye’s increased efforts to deport Syrian refugees – and even other nationalities, in this case – to Syria, without regard to the areas they are from or where their families are based, resulting in a wide and inaccurate deportation process.

Turkish authorities have stepped up their campaign in recent months, with security services targeting refugees and migrants who usually have temporary residency permits, rounding them up and arresting them on minor disputes, and then reportedly forcing them to sign “voluntary return” papers which seemingly prove they chose to return to Syria.

Surges in that process, according to sources cited by the paper, are directly due to daily deportation quotas set for police and gendarmerie by Turkiye’s Interior Ministry.

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