Erdogan Confirms Plan for Voluntary Return of 1 Million Syrian Refugees

A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
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Erdogan Confirms Plan for Voluntary Return of 1 Million Syrian Refugees

A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)
A crossing at the Syrian-Turkish borders. (AFP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Türkiye is planning to ensure the return of about one million Syrian refugees back to their home country.

The return of refugees to their homeland will continue as security and stability continue to be restored in Syria, he added. “So far, more than 600,000 displaced people have returned to the country, and we plan to ensure the return of one million refugees,” Erdogan told a graduation ceremony in Ankara.

He warned that the return of refugees would take more time if terrorist attacks in Syria and Iraq continue.

"We are constructing around 500,000 houses in northern Syria, and the decent and voluntary return will increase as stability is established."

Erdogan revealed that nearly 600,000 refugees have returned to regions cleared of terrorism in northern Syria.

The president underlined a plan to send back 240,000 families, roughly one million Syrians, through a housing project that Türkiye had kicked off two months ago.

Moreover, he criticized the opposition’s approach to the refugee issue, arguing that the fight against terrorism is key to resolving the crisis.

Erdogan added that Türkiye is purging areas in the east and southeast from terrorists and it has defeated the “terrorist” Kurdistan Workers' Party not only in Türkiye, but in Iraq and Syria as well.

Meanwhile, Türkiye has stepped up efforts against illegal migration in major cities, especially Istanbul. In two months, 36,000 illegal migrants were arrested and 16,000 were deported, added Erdogan.

Syrian civil organizations have expressed “serious concern over the recent decision by the Turkish government to forcibly return Syrian refugees to northwestern Syria.”

In a joint statement, Baytna, Free Syrian Lawyers Association, Lawyers & Doctors for Human Rights, Syrian Network for Human Rights, Syrian British Consortium, Syrian American Council, and The Day After warned that such a decision violates the principle of non-refoulement, which is enshrined in international law.

“According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 3,329,516 Syrian refugees are present in Türkiye as of July 13, 2023.”

The statement criticized blaming refugees “for economic and social challenges that have been escalating since before they even came to the country.”

“Governments and opposition parties commonly lay the blame for problems affecting their countries at refugees’ feet, making false statements and promises in elections, such as claiming that deporting hundreds of thousands of refugees would improve the economic situation. This was the case in Türkiye’s most recent general elections.”

The statement added that the fallout of these elections is still being felt, “most palpably in June and July, with the crackdown on Syrian refugees intensifying in many Turkish provinces, most notably Istanbul. During this period, hundreds of Syrian refugees have been detained and subsequently deported.”

“According to accounts from refugees who have been forcibly repatriated from Türkiye to Syria, the crackdown campaigns are targeting Syrian refugees who have failed to obtain official documents that legally justify their presence in Türkiye, as well as Syrian residents who failed to renew their residency or the holders of temporary-protection documents who are found in provinces other than those for which their temporary-protection document was issued.

Most of those detained for deportation were transported by the Turkish police to deportation centers affiliated with the country’s Department of Immigration found across Türkiye, which in turn arranged these individuals’ transportation to the Turkish-Syrian border crossings. These crackdowns have also involved many other violations such as beatings, insults, and not affording them the right to hire a defense attorney or to appeal their deportation rulings.

Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya refuted on Wednesday claims about the deportation of Syrian refugees who are holders of the “Kimlik” temporary protection card from Türkiye.



Israeli War Planes Pound Beirut Suburb, Hezbollah Strikes Back

 Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
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Israeli War Planes Pound Beirut Suburb, Hezbollah Strikes Back

 Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)

The Israeli military pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with airstrikes on Tuesday, mounting one of its heaviest daytime attacks yet on the Hezbollah-controlled area after the defense minister ruled out a ceasefire until Israeli goals were met.

Smoke billowed over Beirut as around a dozen strikes hit the southern suburbs from mid-morning. After posting warnings to civilians on social media, the Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh area of southern Beirut, including command centers and weapons production sites.

It said it had taken steps to reduce harm to civilians and repeated its standing accusation that Hezbollah deliberately embeds itself into civilian areas to use residents as human shields, a charge Hezbollah rejects.

In northern Israel, two people were killed in the city of Nahariya when a residential building was hit by a missile, Israeli police said.

Israelis were forced to take shelter across the north as attack drones were launched from Lebanon, the military said. One hit the yard of a kindergarten in a Haifa suburb, where the children had been rushed into a shelter, rescue workers said. None were hurt.

An Israeli strike back across the border killed five people in the Lebanese village of Baalchmay southeast of Beirut, and five more were killed in a strike on the town of Tefahta in the south, Lebanon's health ministry said. Another person was killed in a strike in Hermel in the northeast, it said.

Beirut residents have largely fled the southern suburbs since Israel began bombing it in September. Footage of one strike shared on social media showed two missiles slamming into a building of around 10 storeys, demolishing it and sending up clouds of debris.

Ignited by the Gaza war, the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah had been rumbling on for a year before Israel went on the offensive in September, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.

Israel has dealt Hezbollah heavy blows, killing many of its leaders including Hassan Nasrallah, flattening large areas of the southern suburbs, destroying border villages in the south, and striking more widely across Lebanon.

Since hostilities erupted a year ago, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,287 people in Lebanon, the majority in the last seven weeks, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Hezbollah attacks have killed about 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon over the last year.

WAR GOALS

Israel's new defense minister Israel Katz said on Monday there would be no ceasefire in Lebanon until Israel achieves its goals.

"Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee Israel's right to enforce and prevent terrorism on its own, and meet the goals of the war in Lebanon - disarming Hezbollah and its withdrawal beyond the Litani River and returning the residents of the north safely to their homes," he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had said earlier on Monday there had been "a certain progress" in ceasefire talks but the main challenge facing any ceasefire deal would be enforcement.

The Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire based on the full implementation of a UN resolution that ended a war between the group and Israel in 2006.

The resolution calls for the area south of the Litani to be free of all weapons other than those of the Lebanese state. Lebanon and Israel have accused each other of violating the resolution.

Israel's offensive has driven more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon, causing a humanitarian crisis.

Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the area over the last year.