Illegal transfer of Syrians to Turkey still happening: HRW researcher

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The illegal transfer of Syrians suspected of links to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) to Turkey by Ankara-backed forces as documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW) is ongoing, a researcher from the human rights group said on Thursday.

HRW said in a report released on Wednesday that Turkish-backed forces in Syria have illegally transferred “at least 63” people to Turkey to face trial and possible life imprisonment over their alleged links with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Those transferred were arrested at the end of 2019. 

“We recorded 60 cases, however based on reports from other organizations we expect around 200 people have been arrested and transferred to Turkey, and the process is ongoing until now,” HRW’s Syria researcher Sara Kayyali told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan on Thursday. 

“The cases we recorded were based in Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) and the surrounding areas, however there are no signs of a stop to this activity and there are no signs of it not existing in other places.”

The illegal transfers recorded by HRW, which took place in 2019, were of Kurds and Arabs arrested in northeast Syria on charges including “undermining the unity and territorial integrity of the state, membership in a terrorist organization, and murder”, based on “unsubstantiated claims” of links to the YPG, the rights group said. 

“The transfer of Syrians from Turkish occupied areas is a violation of the fourth Geneva convention that is linked to occupation, and in simpler terms, Turkey is violating international law, and is violating its duties as an occupying force,” Kayyali said. 

“Another way this could be addressed, since Turkey is under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights, there is possibility to hold Turkey accountable for these transfers through this court.”

The arrested were transferred to detention facilities in Turkey where they were charged “the Turkish Penal Code, even though the alleged crimes took place in Syria,” HRW reported, and the detainees are not able to call their families unless their phone number is registered in Turkey, HRW said. 

Relatives of a number of the detainees were contacted by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, asking them for money to return their relatives – but “only one of the detainees’ families was able to negotiate and pay a US $10,000 fee to secure his release,” the human rights group said. 

In October 2019, the Turkish army and its Syrian proxies launched Operation Peace Spring against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, claiming the force posed a threat to Turkish national security. The YPG makes up a significant portion of the SDF.

Turkey’s Syrian proxies have been accused by local and international rights groups of committing abuses and human rights violations. Some Kurdish officials have even claimed there are former Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the militias’ ranks.

Eighteen organizations signed a letter to European human rights officials in July 2020 detailing abuses committed by Turkey and Turkish-backed groups in northern Syria, accusing Ankara and its Syrian proxies of committing "war crimes, crimes against humanity, as well as crimes of ethnic cleansing and genocide."