When Syrian real estate worker Abu Ahmad was stopped by police in Istanbul he ex...
AL-BAB, Syria/ISTANBUL - When Syrian real estate worker Abu Ahmad was stopped by police in Istanbul he expected a ritual ticking-off for his expired documents, before being allowed on his way. Instead he says he was bundled into a bus packed with 50 men and deported to Syria.The 31-year-old was stopped as he set off to meet a client in Turkey’s bustling commercial hub where up to one million Syrians live - hundreds of whom have been detained this month according to authorities.
Ten days later he says he found himself at the Bab al-Hawa crossing into Idlib, a northwestern Syrian province controlled by rebels and Islamist militants, hundreds of kilometers from his home province of Deir al Zor in eastern Syria. Most Syrians live in southern Turkish provinces near the border but Istanbul province holds the largest contingent. Many have started hiding at home, waiting for the wave of arrests to recede and some stopping work to express their anger.
On Monday, Istanbul’s governor set a four-week deadline for Syrians without Istanbul permits to return to provinces where they are registered, or face forced removal to those regions. Abu Ahmad said he was taken to a prison near the airport on the Asian side of Istanbul. “The smell was inhumane,” he said, describing two inedible meals they were given and the lawyer he said swindled detainees out of hundreds of dollars, promising to get them released. Everyone who paid him was still deported.
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