Human rights organization: 447 refugees killed by Turkish gendarmerie

The Human Rights Organization in Afrin-Syria issued a statement to the public opinion, in which it announced a statistic of the number of victims who lost their lives on the Syrian border by the Turkish border guards.

According to the statement of the Human Rights Organization in Afrin – Syria, the number of Syrian civilians who were killed by the Turkish border guards (Gendarmerie) was 447 refugees, among them (83) children, and (56) women, and the number of injuries by gunfire or assault increased to (420) Syrian citizens.

The text of the statement read:

Turkish border guards shoot Syrian asylum seekers, including Kurdish citizens, and beat them when they try to enter Turkish territory, causing the death and injury of a number of them, especially recently, after the Turkish state and its armed Syrian factions occupied Afrin Syrian area and as a result of the pressure that the indigenous people in Afrin are exposed to by the armed factions of the Turkish occupation, the cases of the flight of citizens, especially the Kurds, from them, and their asylum to Turkey across the common borders, especially in Afrin, increased, according to the testimony of the relatives and local residents, which were documented by international human rights organizations and local, including the “Human Rights Watch” and others are also used violence against asylum seekers and Syrian smugglers.

If Turkey has the right to secure its borders with Syria, it is obligated to respect the principle of non-refoulement that prohibits the expulsion of asylum seekers at the border when they are at risk of persecution and torture, or when their lives and freedom are threatened, Turkey is also obligated to respect international standards related to the use of excessive force, the right to life and physical liberty, including the absolute risk of subjecting anyone to inhuman or degrading treatment.

At a time when Turkey is blackmailing the European Union with refugees on its soil, in order to obtain financial and political benefits to legitimize their stay in Syria, and subject them to death and beatings, and that Turkey is using live ammunition and rifle butts to counter the flow of refugees, and among the victims that the border guards are killing Children and women.

According to local and international human rights observatories (Human Rights Watch – Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – Center for Violations in Northern Syria), they noted in their reports the extent of the violations that took place, and are still occurring during the asylum of the citizens of Syria with various components and nationalities, and trying to enter the Turkish lands to escape the death that has been chasing them in the conflict that has been going on in Syria for 9 years, in addition to residents of the Syrian border villages and towns or farmers and landowners bordering the border are targeted by gendarmerie with live bullets.

The number of the Syrian who were shot by Turkish border guards (gendarmerie) reached 447 refugees, including (83) children under the age of (18) years, and (56) women, and the number of injuries with gunfire or assault increased to (420) Syrian citizens Also, the Turkish state has built a separation wall along its borders with a distance of (911) km, to prevent the entry of refugees, resulting in continuous civilian deaths and injuries.

Although Turkey is one of the guarantor countries to de-escalation, and participates as one of the main parties to the conflict in Syria, and it has the task of protecting refugees and displaced persons, it acts completely the opposite.

We, as the human rights organization in Afrin-Syria, appeal to all international human rights and civil organizations, led by the United Nations, to put pressure on the Turkish government to prevent the use of excessive force against Syrian refugees and displaced persons and others, as one of the countries of the Council of the European Union, and it must respect all international laws and regulations that It stipulates respect for human rights principles and all relevant international agreements. “