“Voluntary return” or demographic change and pushing a million refugees towards an unknown fate?

The Turkish occupation authorities announced, through “Recep Tayyip Erdogan” and his Foreign Minister, their intention to return nearly one million Syrian refugees to northern Syria.
The deportations will take place to areas from the northern countryside of Aleppo in particular, which are under the control of the armed opposition factions loyal to them.

The Turkish project aims to bring about a systematic demographic change in the region, by establishing settlements to transfer refugees to it.

Local sources told Aso News Network that the Turkish occupation authorities have actually started building settlements within the areas they occupy in the northern countryside of Aleppo and other areas in Idlib countryside.

It completed the construction of a residential settlement within the “Batbo” area in the northern countryside of Idlib that includes hundreds of houses. According to the same sources, the Turkish Minister of Interior, “Süleyman Soylu,” participated in the inauguration of the settlement on May 5, during a visit he made to the areas of northern Syria.

The settlement was established under the full supervision of the Turkish occupation authorities without interference from the Syrian humanitarian organizations. The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Authority, the Turkish Red Crescent and the Turkish Religious Endowment supported the construction of the settlement. The settlement aims to accommodate thousands of families who will be transferred from Turkey to northern Syria during the next stage.

The plan for the deportation of Syrian refugees was revealed in details by many Turkish media sources and clarified what the Turkish occupation authorities are planning during the coming period. Among those media sources was Haber Media agency which revealed what has been called the 8 phases plan which has been set by the occupying Turkish government to deport Syrians to their country.

According to the channel, the first phase will focus on the deportation of Syrians from major cities and governorates such as Istanbul, Ankara, Entebbe and Adana, after which work will be done on preparing the regions of northern Syria and preparing them to receive about one million Syrian refugees as a first stage.

The focus will be on 13 areas at the beginning of the resettlement operations, including Jarablus, Jindires, Azaz, Al-Bab and others in the cities in the northern countryside of Aleppo. Later work will be done to equip vital facilities such as hospitals, schools, bakeries and service institutions, and finally, development and service projects will be opened to provide job opportunities for the largest possible number of Syrian residents to be deported.

But these promises do not have any credibility on the part of many Syrians, whether they are residing in northern Syria or within Turkish territory, considering them to be mere “false promises” that will not actually be implemented on the ground, and they express their fear that the Turkish occupation authorities will start implementing forced deportations.

In this context, Khalid Al-Ahmad (a pseudonym) says that he has been living with his wife and family since 2012 in one of the villages around the Turkish city of Antakya, in his interview with “Aso News Network”, that he feels stable in Turkey and has been able to find work in a charitable institution in addition he receives food aid and a monthly stipend, and he can hardly pay the rent of his house and support his family, the idea of ​​returning to northern Syria would be disastrous for him, “according to his description.

He adds that many of his relatives reside in northern Syria within the camps of the northern countryside of Idlib, and he is in constant contact with them and knows the reality of their conditions.” Every year, the camps are flooded in winter and hot atmosphere in summer and moreover poverty and the lack of financial capabilities, job opportunities, not even good relief support.”

Under these circumstances, “Al-Ahmad” rejects the idea of ​​returning, especially with the presence of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) and armed opposition factions loyal to the Turkish occupation, which “restrict the noose on civilians within their areas of control and impose their laws, taxes and royalties on them and interfere with everything,” according to his say.

Al-Ahmad appeals, through Aso News Network, to human rights organizations and European countries to intervene to solve this issue and prevent Turkey from sending all these numbers of civilians to an unknown fate and under the threat of starvation, poverty and possible death, either under the bombing of Syrian government planes or because of the security chaos in all areas of the Turkish occupation and “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” in northern Syria witnessing, according to him.

In a related context, the journalist and human rights defender Louay Abu Jawad, who resides in Idlib, told Aso News Network: “There is a deliberate intention by the Turkish occupation authorities to end the file of Syrian refugees and reduce their numbers to a large extent before the start of the presidential election cycle scheduled for the year 2023, as ” Erdogan ” seeks to win the popular incubator and calm the opposition parties that put the refugee file among their priorities.”

He considers that the deportation of Syrians is an illegal measure that contradicts Erdogan’s pledges over the past years. Where he was constantly repeating that he will not push the Syrians out of Turkey and will not return them as long as there is a danger to their lives, and now he wants to return them under the name of “safe areas”, which are not safe at all, and the bombings, shelling and clashes are constantly repeated, and these areas live in a state of security chaos and cannot be returned to.

He explains that there are official Turkish pledges regarding the refugee issue, “Syrians are no longer just fleeing the war for a short period, but they have in Turkey a lot of things that bind them and push them not to think about returning.” He points out that there are many citizenship holders and everyone holds temporary protection cards. Which gives them the right to remain in Turkish territories as long as there are potential threats to their lives if they return.

The Syrian journalist believes that the Syrians do not constitute any burden on Turkey, and that the issue is the exact opposite. “Its economy has rebounded greatly due to thousands of Syrian industrialists, craftsmen and businessmen, in addition to what Turkey takes in the name of refugees from the European Union countries annually. In addition, the presence of Syrians contributed In the recovery of major Turkish cities and the opening of hundreds of investment projects.

He points out that the construction of more residential settlements in the areas controlled by the factions in the northern countryside of Aleppo is another violation of human rights. All the targeted areas are for Kurds who have been displaced from their cities and towns by Turkey under the pretext of keeping away the risk of ” Syrian Democratic Forces” of its borders, the construction of camps and residing more displaced and refugees means the continuation of Turkey to manipulate the demographics of the region and change its demographics.”

He stresses the importance of standing up to this Turkish decision from inside Turkey. He also calls on Syrians in Turkey to reject the decision by protesting against it and express their opinion in all available ways, and the need for countries concerned with the issue of Syrian refugees, such as European countries, to resolve this issue and prevent Turkey from implementing its plan.

In this context, Suleiman al-Mahmoud (a pseudonym for one of the sources of Aso News Network) says that “the Turkish occupation authorities have actually begun to harass the Syrian refugees and have begun to deploy many barriers at the entrances to the main cities to check the identity papers of the Syrian refugees. In 12 of May this year they deported about 200 Syrian and Afghan refugees, and this incident did not receive any media coverage, many Syrians have been pulled out of the Turkish citizenship, or what is known as “dual citizenship,” despite having been obtained legally and according to the Turkish conditions set, which is either to invest in Turkey in an amount of more than 250 thousand Turkish lira, or that the person is an employee or has an important role in Turkey.

Al-Mahmoud added, “The Syrians have been suffering greatly since the beginning of the Turkish statements, as a result of the security pursuit of them and the scrutiny of their places of residence and identity cards, which hinders their movement and increases their suffering within the Turkish territories.”

He pointed out that there is an actual Turkish intention to deport one million refugees at present, and that the full completion of the deportation plan will be completed before the next 2023, according to what is happening in the Turkish street, which is welcoming and happy with the news of the return and deportation of Syrian refugees, according to the previous source.
The source indicated that there is a complete refusal by the Syrians to deport, and they fear a dangerous fate due to their lack of confidence in the Turkish side, as some are afraid of handing over the northern Syria regions to the Syrian regime after returning the refugees. The factions loyal to the Turkish occupation no longer have any real role on the ground and have become just a tool in the hands of the Turkish occupation authorities to implement their plans and agendas, he said.

Despite the clarity of the process of forced deportation that the Turkish occupation authoritiesg started working on against Syrian refugees on its lands, and despite the continuation of Turkish organizations such as the “Turkish Disaster and Emergency Authority,” the “Turkish Red Crescent” and the “Turkish Religious Endowment” to build settlements within the Turkish occupation areas, the last of which was A residential village of “Batbo” area in the northern countryside of Idlib and another village within the occupied area of ​​Afrin has been called “Basma” village.

The aforementioned organizations pretend that the constructed villages are for the people who live in camps and not for deporting Syrians from Turkey. In 18th of May of this year the Turkish president” Recep Tayyip Erdogan” called on NATO States to construct a safe zone in northern Syria, and seeks through deporting Syrians from Turkey to a demographic change of northern Syria areas in line with Turkish agendas and achieve its ambitions in Syrian crisis.