Turkey 'accidentally' deports Moroccan man to Syria, brings him back

Turkish authorities recently deported a young Moroccan man to Syria after allegedly mistaking him for a Syrian national, only to bring him back days later.

Ismail al-Zou was accidentally deported to Syria’s border town of Jarabulus, The New Arab's sister site Syria TV reported, citing sources. The Zaman al-Wasl newspaper reported that he was brought back to Turkey.

Al-Zou, 32, called on Moroccan authorities as well as humanitarian and rights groups to intervene to help him return to his country, as seen in a video shared on Monday by Zaman al-Wasl on its page on X, formerly Twitter.

He says he had spent five months in refugee detention centres prior to his deportation, adding that he travelled to Turkey with the aim of finding a job opportunity in sports as he was a professional runner.

#تركيا تُعيد إلى أراضيها الشاب المغربي "اسماعيل الزو" الذي رحلته يوم سابقا إلى شمال سوريا...
نشرت #زمان_الوصل سابقا قصته: https://t.co/8YEkb6HmG3 pic.twitter.com/LclyIGyVWf

— ZAMANALWSL - زمان الوصل (@zamanalwsl) September 26, 2023

The Moroccan national arrived in Istanbul on a three-month tourist visa at the start of this year but was arrested in late April near his place of residence. He was allegedly not allowed to bring any of his official papers to prove his right of stay.

The man was initially transferred to a refugee detention centre in Kilis, southern Turkey, where he spent about two months, before being transferred to the Bab al-Salama border crossing with Syria.

But after confirming he was a Moroccan citizen, the crossing’s administration on the Turkish side of the border decided to send him to another refugee centre in Gaziantep where he stayed for about three months.

Al-Zou added that Turkish authorities forced him last week to enter Syrian territory through the Jarabulus crossing, stressing that he tried to contact the Moroccan embassy in Ankara but to no avail.

It comes after a similar incident in August saw Ankara deport two other Moroccan nationals to the war-torn neighbouring country.

Syrians, who number around four million in Turkey, have been subjected to physical and verbal attacks and widespread discrimination, with many being deported in recent years.

Ankara has been directly involved in the nearly 13-year Syrian conflict, supporting rebel groups against the regime.