‘I fled when the Taliban threatened to murder me, but Turkey sent me back’

▶ Deportations to Afghanistan point to a blanket policy by nation that hosts thousands who fled violence

The first time in his life Sezar Azheer boarded a plane, he was dragged aboard against his will. The 19-year-old was in Turkey illegally and about to be deported back to Afghanistan.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have journeyed to Turkey to escape the violence that has engulfed their country since 2002. But Mr Azheer is one of thousands to have been forcibly returned by Turkish authorities.

With increasing numbers of undocumented foreigners who are unable to proceed on migrant trails to Europe, Turkish authorities have been deporting Afghans, signalling a clear shift from its warm reception of refugees.

Mr Azheer was stopped in May in the Turkish city of Yalova and had no legal papers.

Once he landed, he stayed in Kabul – the deadliest city in Afghanistan – rather than return to his hometown in Ghor province, where the Taliban had threatened to kill him in 2016 unless his mother quit as head of the governorate.

“I told the [Turkish police] that my life is in danger and that I had proof that the Taliban was threatening my life, but they didn’t care,” Mr Azheer said, speaking by phone from Afghanistan.

Turkey has become an even more important destination for Afghans since Pakistan and Iran began expelling refugees in 2016. But between January and early April, Turkey deported at least 7,100 Afghans, according to Amnesty International. Two thousand more remain in detention and are likely to be deported within weeks.

Turkish officials acknowledge the increase in removals, saying that most Afghans are illegal migrants trying to get into Europe.

But human rights groups accuse Turkish authorities of preventing arrivals from making asylum claims that would give them the temporary right to remain and of forcing them to sign “voluntary” deportation papers.

In Turkey, asylum seekers are assigned a host city where they are obliged to stay until their cases are processed. These are usually far from urban centres such as Istanbul or Ankara.

Afghans such as Mr Azheer were deported for leaving their assigned cities as he, like many, migrated to be part of a larger Afghan community and to look for work.

Unlike the 3.5 million fleeing the Syrian conflict who have found refuge in Turkey, Afghans are not treated as refugees.

But Afghanistan remains too dangerous to return asylum seekers to, says Amnesty International. In the first three months of this year, the UN recorded 763 civilian deaths in the country.

The speed of deportations suggests a blanket policy to remove Afghans, said Omar Waraich, the deputy director of Amnesty International for South Asia. “[Amnesty] has a lot of sympathy for Turkey for being the largest refugee host in the world but their mass deportations of Afghans seems to be ruthless,” he said.

Turkey’s Internal Directorate for Migration Management denies it has adopted a policy targeting all Afghans and an adviser said all refugees have fair access to asylum procedures. The adviser, Mr Bakir, also denied reports that border patrols were coercing Afghans to sign deportation orders.

“That’s just a rumour,” he said. “All illegal migrants have access to a translator once they are caught and can ask for international protection.”

However, police officers have wide powers that allow them to report migrants either as illegal aliens or asylum seekers.

Several local asylum groups, not authorised to speak to the press, say that decision is often made arbitrarily.

Gulagha Mayil, an Afghan living in Yalova, said police were preparing to deport him after catching him outside his assigned city. They changed their minds after he showed a video of the Taliban stoning his niece to death. She was killed, he said, for planning to elope with a man.

Mr Mayil later obtained a sixmonth residency permit but fears authorities will not renew it. He now plans to hire a smuggler to take him to Europe.

If caught, he will be returned. In March 2016, Turkey agreed to take back migrants entering the European Union in exchange for less stringent visa regulations for Turkish citizens, and €3 billion (Dh12.9bn).

“Afghans have nowhere to go,” Mr Mayil said. “Turkey isn’t safe and many of us don’t know what might happen if we stay here.”