Turkey maintains strong repression against Syrian refugees despite alliance with Al-Sharaa government

The situation of Syrian refugees is getting worse. Although the new Syrian government is considered an ally of Ankara, this has not led to any significant change in Turkish policy towards Syrians residing in its territory, which has raised serious concerns for local and international human rights organisations. 

Neither the arrival of Ahmed al-Sharaa in the Syrian government nor diplomatic overtures have halted the Turkish authorities' campaigns of arrests, forced deportations and harassment of activists, journalists and ordinary citizens; on the contrary, these acts have intensified. 

Cases such as those of human rights activist Taha al-Ghazi and journalist Ghassan Yassin perfectly illustrate the ordeal that certain groups are suffering. 

Arrested by the Turkish authorities under the ‘G-207’ code of the Aliens Act, an ambiguous tool applied to refugees who, according to the authorities themselves, have participated in ‘provocative’ activities, both were deported and stripped of their Turkish nationality. In both cases, no national body has clarified the reasons or given a clear official explanation for their case. 

Regarding the deportation, the Turkish authorities have merely stated that ‘each and every return is voluntary’, a claim that activists and journalists consider ‘far from reality’. While the position of activists and other repressed groups seems to be true, many refugees are returning to Syria out of fear, harassment or threats, and not of their own free will. 

In view of this situation, various human rights organisations have emphasised that the policies implemented by the Turkish authorities with the Bashar al-Assad regime and with al-Sharaa are the same, so to claim that there has been a change is a complete contradiction. 

Although the Syrian community had hoped for some relief since the arrival of the new government, the reality is quite the opposite, as reported by numerous reports presented by these organisations, which document the constant increase in restrictions, deportations and economic pressure on Syrian refugees. 

The application of restrictive codes such as G-207 is commonplace and affects thousands of Syrian refugees, many of whom have been arbitrarily detained or deported even after being acquitted by the courts. 

This series of events has created a deep sense of insecurity among refugees, many of whom fear being expelled at any moment. However, the low effectiveness of appeals, given the regional context and Syria's limited institutional capacities after years of conflict, is a sign of relief for the Syrian community.