Turkish guards shoot, kill refugee, injure three others on Syrian border

Turkish border guards shot dead one Syrian refugee and injured three others as they tried to cross the border from Syria to Turkey in the Azmarin area of Idlib province on Sunday, the Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) has reported.

The killed man was identified by the SHRC as Rayyan Mohammed Salloum, from the village of Shahrenaz near Qalaat Al-Madiq in Hama province. He had previously lived in Turkey for over two years before being deported.

SHRC said that he was trying to return to Turkey to join his family. Turkey hosts over 3.5 million refugees from the Syrian conflict, but thousands have been arbitrarily deported to Syria in recent years amid increasing discrimination and racism against them.

Turkish border guards have shot dead hundreds of Syrian refugees at the border in recent years, leading to condemnation from rights groups.

The SHRC said there had recently been an increase in violations committed by Turkish border guards against Syrians living in camps along the border and condemned the targeting of civilians.

It called on Turkish authorities to stop using live fire against civilians in border areas and punish those responsible for doing so, calling on them to use "peaceful methods" when dealing with Syrians attempting to cross the border irregularly.