-
Syrian refugees in Beirut and Istanbul detained and deported

Lives put at risk as thousands face forcible return to warzones under air attack
Countries neighbouring the still rumbling Syrian war are rounding up hundreds of workers and sending many back to volatile parts of the country, raising fears of mass deportations that will imperil large numbers of refugees.
Syrians living in Istanbul and Beirut have been targeted by immigration authorities in recent weeks, with more than 1,000 detained in Turkey’s biggest city last weekend and given 30 days to leave.
Some refugees described a whirlwind deportation process of being transferred through three detention facilities. Their mobile phones confiscated, they were held incommunicado from families or lawyers and forced to sign papers saying they “voluntarily” agreed to return to war-ravaged Syria.
The scale and speed of the arrests mark a reversal of Turkey’s open-door policy towards Syrian refugees – a hallmark of the war’s early years during which up to 5 million people crossed the Turkish border.
In the Lebanese capital, refugees, many of them undocumented workers, have spoken of being summarily dismissed from their jobs since early July as part of a new government decree, the stated aim of which is to prioritise Lebanese labour over foreign workers. The new law comes amid heightened political rhetoric over the fate of Syrian migrants, with Lebanese allies of the Syrian leader insisting that the war is all but over and the country is safe.
While tensions between refugees and host governments have risen in recent years, the current moves pose the most pointed threat yet to more than 5 million Syrians living in Turkey and Lebanon – two countries that readily took in those fleeing the fighting as the war intensified from 2012.
As the fortunes of the anti-Assad opposition have shifted in favour of the Syrian leader and his backers, so too have the politics; Turkey, while remaining a nominal foe of Bashar al-Assad, now approaches the war through more narrow national interests, allying with armed opposition groups where it chooses but no longer pushing for regime change.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, a backer of the armed opposition in the early years, has also changed tack and, sparked by politicians whose fortunes are tied to the Assad regime, the country’s political discourse has turned against Syrians. In Lebanon and Turkey, polling shows sentiment running heavily against Syrian refugees, with a widespread view that undocumented migrants are taking jobs that would otherwise go to locals.
The claim by politicians in Lebanon that conditions have stabilised in Syria has been widely contradicted by humanitarian groups, and by the existence of still-raging battlefields in Syria’s north-west, which have been routinely bombarded since the end of April. A Russian and Syrian-led air campaign in that time has killed more than 400 people, including 90 children, monitoring organisations say. In the latest attack, a marketplace in the town of Ariha was bombed on Saturday, killing 11 and wounding more than a dozen others.
Lebanon’s labour minister, Camille Abousleiman, said he was “simply applying the law”.
“It is my job to properly regulate the labour market,” he said. “To encourage Lebanese workers, as the economy isn’t doing so well, and regulate the foreign workers. If the law wasn’t implemented prior, it isn’t my burden to bear. I sympathise with Syrians dearly. I understand they don’t want to go back because it’s not safe for them.”
Clara Long, the acting deputy Washington director of Human Rights Watch, said: “The Syrian government and other groups continue to disregard international human rights and humanitarian law protections”. She added: “Many of the core reasons that Syrians fled – indiscriminate attacks, disappearances, torture and dire humanitarian conditions – still pose a daily risk to civilians.”
In Syrian government-held areas, refugees who have returned voluntarily or been forced across the border report widespread conscription and detentions. Many say their properties have been seized by regime officials as part of a highly controversial law that confiscates the homes of those suspected of being members or supporters of the armed opposition.
After he was arrested in Istanbul, one Syrian man from Idlib, Mahmoud Qaddah, said: “In the eight days I spent detained, I signed more than 15 papers. They never said what they were, and there was no translator. ‘Sign and you can go home,’ they said – I didn’t think that they meant to Syria.”
Gökçe Ceylandağ, a spokesperson for Turkey’s migration directorate, denied that Syrians were being forced back. “Syrians are not sent back except in cases of voluntary repatriation. These allegations do not reflect the truth.”
Alaa Mohammed, 25, spent eight days in police custody after being asked for papers in Istanbul. Then he was sent to Idlib province.
“I’m the only breadwinner of my family,” he said from Idlib. “I got scared and felt forced to just give my fingerprints and sign the papers they put in front of me. No one answered our questions. We had no idea what was our destiny would be.”
Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the UN refugee agency UNHCR, said: “Politically, this is very sensitive. We are in constant dialogue with the government on a number of issues, particularly about people having to go back to their provinces … but are looking at a number of reported cases related to deportations and have not been able to confirm those.”
Another UN staff member said: “We hear constant reports of refugees being forced to sign that form. UNHCR is responsible for making sure those refugees don’t end up in Idlib, and they are failing.”
Bassel Hailam, the vice-president of the civil society group the Syrian Associations Platform, said his organisation was tracking 2,600 deportations from Turkey over the past two years.
You May Also Like
Popular Posts
Caricature
BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
opinion
Report
ads
Newsletter
Subscribe to our mailing list to get the new updates!