The Association for the Support of Afghan Refugees in Türkiye has stated that around 29,000 refugees have been deported from Turkey between January 1 and the first week of April, with Afghans comprising the largest group.

Over 18,000 refugees have been detained, with more than 5,000 being Afghan nationals. The human rights group claims that Türkiye has been returning tens of thousands of Afghan refugees to Iran and deporting thousands more directly to Afghanistan without considering their requests for international protection.

The country deports up to a thousand Afghan refugees every week. It is believed that President Erdoğan is using the fight against illegal immigration as a major issue in his election campaign to attract voters.

Asylum seekers use Turkey as a transit route to reach Southern or Western Europe by paying human traffickers, who are mostly Turkish citizens, thousands of dollars to accept the risk of death. (ILKHA)