The EU channelled hundreds of millions of euros into a shadow deportation system operating in Turkey that targeted Syrian and Afghan refugees, according to Lighthouse Reports.
Syrian and Afghan men, women and children are reportedly locked up in EU-funded deportation centres where they are allegedly subjected to violence. They are then moved to sometimes lethal conditions while the EU silently watches the process.
Over the past decade, millions of refugees fleeing persecution by violent authorities and civil war have taken refuge in Turkey. The European Union considers it unsafe to deport Syrians and Afghans back to their home countries.
Turkey is being turned into a buffer zone to prevent refugees from reaching Europe in exchange for billions of euros.
The arrests, detentions and expulsions from Turkey are made possible by one of the largest migrant detention systems in the world, established and funded by the EU. The investigation was carried out by Lighthouse Reports in co-operation with El País, Der Spiegel, Politico, Etilaat Roz, SIRAJ, NRC, L’Espresso and Le Monde.
Journalistic research
213 million euros of EU funding went towards the construction and maintenance of around 30 expulsion centres in Turkey. In total, the country has been given almost €1 billion to help cope with the surge of people crossing its borders, according to the investigation.
Documents, visual evidence and interviews show that detainees are often denied legal aid. Many are forced to sign documents stating that they will voluntarily return to the countries from which they have fled.
The testimonies of victims, eyewitnesses, Turkish, Syrian and Afghan officials, as well as former staff of deportation centres were reinforced by extensive analysis of visual evidence, court decisions and hundreds of pages of EU documents.
Several European diplomats raised concerns about EU funding of abuses and deportations to high-ranking officials. However, they were ignored. Seven European diplomats in Turkey working for the EU also said they were aware of forced deportations of Syrians or conditions inside the centres. According to a former EU official, those issues were “systematically erased” from the EU’s annual reports on Turkey.
Emma Sinclair of Human Rights Watch also commented on EU-funded schemes to deport people from Turkey.
European leaders are fully aware of what is going on, they just don’t want to get their hands dirty. The EU is indirectly facilitating forced returns. They subcontract human rights violations to third countries.
