For the last two weeks Aegean Boat Report have been contacted by numerous groups of Afghan families, all with one thing in common, they have all been transported from Turkish coastal cities in the North Aegean, to a camp in the outskirts of Iğdir, eastern Turkey, a few kilometers from the border to Iran.
The families contacted us and expressed deep concern of being deported, first to Iran, and then back to Taliban in Afghanistan. They told us there was between 6 and 8 buses that drove together in each group, and the people onboard were all Afghan Families, they estimated over 1.000 people total.
We have previously heard of single unregistered men without any papers being deported to Iran, but this is different. This time they removed large groups of registered Afghan families, men, women and a large number of children, many who have been living in Turkey for years. People even provided pictures of their Turkish papers.
According to the people who contacted us they were given very short notice, some under one hour, to pack up their things, only one bag each, and be ready to be transported. No information was given on why they suddenly was moved, and to where.
Last week we followed three different large groups of Afghan families, one group from Ayvacik camp, Çanakkale, and two groups from Izmir, they all were transported almost 2000km, across Turkey, to the Iğdır Göçmen Camp, eastern Turkey, question is why?
Under their transport to the camp, and after their arrival, they shared location data, pictures and videos, and we can clearly see that we are not talking about only single men, quite the opposite.
We had contact with several people from the camp in Iğdır, and they told us that they would be deported to Iran. We of course have no official information from Turkish authorities, that they will be deported, and they most likely wouldn’t tell us if they did, because if this is in fact the case, this would be a violation of international law, and even Turkish law, to deport people with papers registered in Turkey, to Iran.
From all the phones we previously had contact with from the camp in eastern Turkey, connection has now been lost. The reason for this is of course unknown, but before we lost contact with them, they told us that groups of single men had been rounded up, all phones taken away from them, before transported out of the camp, location unknown.
We are concerned that Afghan families are being illegally deported from Turkey to Iran, and from there to Afghanistan, that for many would mean certain death.
The North Aegean region is the main entry point into Europe for Afghans, we especially see this on the Greek Aegean island of Lesvos, where thousands of Afghans have arrived in the last months, and are by far the largest group registered on the island. After this mass transport from these coastal areas in Turkey, arrivals of Afghans on the Greek Aegean islands, especially Lesvos, have been drastically reduced.
We have had contact with many people from Afganistan arriving on the Greek islands lately, and we have seen a steep increase in Afghans crossing the Aegean Sea into Europe that started several months ago. We have many times asked these groups why they take the risk on this very dangerous journey, especially traveling with large numbers of small children. Every time they have replied, “we are no longer safe in Turkey, they will deport us back to Afghanistan”, and “we fear Taliban more than the sea”.
Meetings between Turkey and Greece on the topic of “migration flow” has been ongoing since the end of last year, perhaps this is what is beginning to bear fruit.
We read in the press last week that the Greek Aegean islands will launch fast-track visas for Turkish tourists from April 1. The announcement followed an agreement by Athens and Ankara, approved by the EU, to revive a previous scheme the special Schengen Express Visa program for Turkish citizens wishing to visit certain eastern Aegean islands.
This sounds all too familiar, “paying” Turkey to do our dirty work, as we tried with the EU-Turkey Deal, all in the name of “protecting” the borders of Europe, without any concern for the pain and suffering we inflict on those in the receiving end.
We are deeply concerned for the safety and the fate of the Afghan families who have been transported to a camp close to the Iranian border, and believe that they will be illegally deported, if not already, then soon, if nothing is done to try to prevent it.
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