A growing number of men, women and children are being arrested on the streets of Turkey, locked in removal centres where they are subjected to poor conditions and abuse and then forcibly sent back to their home countries where they face death or severe hardship – and Europe is knowingly providing financial support at every stage in this process.
In this detailed analysis of EU funding for migration management in Turkey to date, the team of journalists combed through EU and Turkish official reports and briefings, research papers, procurement and call for tenders documents, press requests and freedom of information requests. They submitted more than 20 freedom of information requests to European Commission agencies and complained to the ombudsman when many of these requests were denied.
The team spoke with over a hundred sources, including 37 people who had been detained in Turkey’s removal centres, as well as Turkish, Syrian and Afghan officials and former removal centre staff. They collected and reviewed visual evidence, court rulings and hundreds of pages of EU-documents, to document systematic abuses and appalling conditions in the EU-funded removal centres. They also captured images and obtained documents indicating that EU-funded equipment is being used by Turkey to conduct mass arrests targeting refugees on the streets of Turkey and transport refugees back to Syria.
An investigation by Lighthouse Reports, in collaboration with El Pais, Der Spiegel, Politico, Etilaat Roz, SIRAJ, NRC, L’Espresso and Le Monde, provides the most comprehensive picture to date of this vast system of deportation, specifically of Afghan and Syrian nationals – whom the EU deems it unsafe to return – and how the EU is knowingly funding it. The team of journalists have identified individuals who, after being deported to Afghanistan or Syria by Turkey, have suffered severe harm – and in the worst cases death.
OTHER JOURNALISTS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE INVESTIGATION
- Der Spiegel: Mohannad Al-Najjar, Şebnem Arsu, Muriel Kalisch, Steffen Lüdke
- Le Monde: Nicolas Bourcier
- NRC: Melvyn Ingleby
- Politico: Zia Weise
- SIRAJ (Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism): Mohammad Bassiki
- Etiliaat Roz: Jalil Rawnaq
- L'Espresso: Ylenia Gostoli
- Independent reporters: Giacomo Zandonini, Javad Jalali, Mesud Tatuz, Bulent Kilic
- Lighthouse Reports: Elena DeBre, Charlotte Alfred, Tessa Pang
Photo: ©Bülent Kiliç
**Turkey's Deportation Machine is chosen as a finalist for Global Investigative Journalism Network's 2025 Global Shining Light Awards.
*** The Spanish version of the investigation -published in El Pais- has been shortlisted for the Gabo Award 2025.
