ISTANBUL/PARIS/UTRECHT - The European Union has helped Turkey to deport Syrian and Afghan refugees to situations of hardship, danger and even death through a system of arrest, detention and removal that has developed over time, this investigation has found.
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
- Independent reporters: Giacomo Zandonini, Javad Jalali, Mesud Tatuz, Ylenia Gostoli
- Lighthouse Reports: Elena DeBre, Charlotte Alfred, Tessa Pang
Photo: ©Bülent Kiliç
CO-PUBLICATIONS
- Turkey's EU-funded Deportation Machine, Lighthouse Reports, 11/10/2024
- The EU is helping Turkey forcibly deport migrants to Syria and Afghanistan, Politico, 11/10/2024
- Refugiados Encerrados Como Animales Y Deportados Como Criminales, Con Dinero De La Ue, El Pais, 11/10/2024
- Wie die EU bei der Abschiedbung von Syrern und Afghanen hilft, Der Spiegel, 11/10/2024
- Mishandeld in een Turks uitzetcentrum. ‘Dit project is gefinancierd door de EU’, NRC, 11/10/2024
- اخراج اجباری به کام مرگ؛ همدستی اتحادیه اروپا با ترکیه در اخراج پناهجویان, Etilaat Roz, 11/10/2024
- Turquie, la machine à expulsion financée par l’UE, Le Monde, 11/10/2024
- Inside Turkey’s EU-Funded Deportation Machine, New Lines Magazine, 12/10/2024
- Future plans include impact tracking to measure real-world changes from investigations, a monthly podcast and monetisation solutions., Aljumhuriya, 12/10/2024
- Deported by Erdogan with European money, L'Espresso, 12/10/2024
COUNTRIES
- Turkey
- Netherlands
- France
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Belgium
- Syria
- Afghanistan
- Italy
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