Aid officials report spike in Jordan deportations of Syrians
AMMAN, Jordan — Life as a refugee in Jordan suddenly ended for a Syrian carpenter when he was summoned for interrogation, blindfolded and sent on a bus back to Syria with his wife and four children the next morning.
After more than four years in Jordan, the 31-year-old is back in a war zone where he fears for his family’s safety and struggles to find work. He hasn’t heard from parents left behind in Jordan, presumably because they fear the same fate if they make contact.
“Everyone is afraid,” he said by Skype from Syria’s Daraa province.
Deportations from Jordan have spiked in recent
months, with entire Syrian families sent back for the first time, including large numbers of children, said two international aid officials. One official said
that more than one-third of several thousand refugees who went back to Syria between January and April were forcibly deported, while others
returned voluntarily.
The international group Human Rights Watch said it has documented “numerous cases” since 2014 of Jordan forcibly returning Syrian asylum seekers to Syria. In many cases, the deportations violate international law, which bars returning people to situations where they face danger or persecution, said Lama Fakih, deputy director of the group’s Middle East and North Africa division.
Turkey and Lebanon, two other main refugee host countries alongside Jordan, also have deported asylum seekers, she said.
A Jordanian government official confirmed deportations have taken place, but said refugees are only sent back on security grounds, after an investigation. He would not give a total since the beginning of the year.
The official and the aid agency employees spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the deportations, a contentious issue between Jordan and the international community.
Eight deportees interviewed by The Associated Press on WhatsApp or Skype said they were expelled without due process or apparent reason, or were targeted because they spoke to relatives who live in areas of Syria controlled by Islamic State extremists.
Returning refugees to war zones violates international law, especially when it is done without due process and includes family members, said Jeff Crisp, a former official at the U.N. refugee agency.
Refugees can lose their protected status if they are involved in violent or subversive activity, but only after an investigation, Crisp said.