Turkey detains 55 Afghan refugees, including 16 children, in Manisa

Turkish police in the western province of Manisa said on Monday that they had detained 55 Afghan refugees, including 16 children, aboard a passenger bus. After administrative procedures were completed, they were handed over to the Directorate of Foreigners’ Affairs.

Turkey has been identified as one of the main routes for Afghan refugees heading to Europe, and a large number of Afghans have migrated to the country since the fall of Kabul. However, Afghan refugees in Turkey face the risk of mistreatment and deportation.

Reports show that a number of Afghan refugees in border areas, especially in Chaldoran near the Iran-Turkey border, have been tortured and beaten by Turkish border guards, and some have been returned to Iran with injuries after being detained and forced into labour in border markets.

One refugee in the area says more than 40 injured Afghan citizens have been expelled from Turkish detention centres over the past two days.

According to data from Turkey’s Directorate of Migration, about 29,712 Afghan refugees were detained across the country in the first nine months of this year, with Afghans topping the list of detained refugees.