Taha al-Ghazi deported: A warning to refugee rights advocates in Turkey? 

ISTANBUL — Taha al-Ghazi was not at home when the police officers arrived on May 16. After knocking on the door of his Istanbul residence, they initially told his wife they were there to verify the address. But soon, they threatened to arrest her if al-Ghazi did not turn up. 

When his wife called and told him what was happening, al-Ghazi immediately suspected that what was happening was more than a routine check. He hurried home, where he was quickly surrounded by five plainclothes officers. They confiscated his phone and belongings, then took him to the General Security Directorate on Vatan Street. 

Once there, he was shown an arrest report, related to “Code G-207,” associated with “inciting activities against the Turkish state that could pose a national security threat,” al-Ghazi told Syria Direct. 

Al-Ghazi—who for years has advocated for the rights of Syrian refugees in Turkey in coordination with official Turkish bodies, rights organizations, unions and members of parliament across political lines—strongly denied the charges. Still, he was ordered to be deported from Turkey, where he once held citizenship before it was stripped in 2024. 

The detention and deportation of al-Ghazi, among the most prominent Syrian human rights activists in Turkey, has sparked concern among Syrians and Turks who fear it could mark the beginning of a broader effort to target refugee advocates. Around 2.8 million Syrians currently live in Turkey under temporary protection status (kimlik), while more than 200,000 returned to their country after the Assad regime fell in December 2024. 

While being transferred to a deportation center in Istanbul’s Arnavutköy district, “I was filmed in handcuffs with my head lowered, as if I were a criminal,” al-Ghazi said. He spent around 20 minutes there to produce a medical report confirming he had not been beaten, before being moved to another deportation center in Aydın, a city in southwestern Turkey. 

After his phone was confiscated, al-Ghazi was not allowed to contact his lawyer, Abdulhalim Yılmaz, or his wife, apart from two WhatsApp messages informing them where he was, he said. At the deportation center in Aydın, the director was surprised to find him as a detainee, having met al-Ghazi before as an advocate for other Syrians. 

Two days after his arrest, al-Ghazi learned Turkish authorities had also detained his wife, which he considered a way of putting “pressure” on him. “I requested voluntary return to save effort and time,” he said. The two were deported to Syria the following day, and currently live together in the Aleppo countryside city of Azaz. 

Al-Ghazi’s arrest “was not legal,” he said, as he was not presented with an arrest warrant or previously informed of any ruling against him. “The name alone was enough to be treated as a threat,” he added, referring to his long track record of activism.

He first came under pressure to curtail his activities last May, when he was stripped of Turkish citizenship under the pretext of posing a threat to national security, al-Ghazi said. He is still fighting a legal battle to have it restored. 

Pressuring human rights activists

Over the past several years, Turkish authorities allowed a number of human rights activists to engage in “conditional work, official meetings with migration officials to discuss Syrian issues and discuss restrictions on them,” al-Ghazi said. Now, he believes Ankara no longer wants to “raise any ideas on this, and wants to stop activists from working.”

Turkey’s Directorate of Migration Management “has not allowed, and still does not allow, rights advocates or organizations to enter deportation centers, despite the legal need for them,” he added. 

Al-Ghazi’s mid-May arrest coincided with the arrest of Syrian journalist Ghassan Yassin, who was released three days later. The incident raised fears among media workers, though Yassin later said in a post on his personal X account that he was detained due to a “residency” issue. 

What happened to al-Ghazi “weakens Turkey’s credit and the soft power it has accumulated among Syrians over the past years,” one Syrian lawyer living in Turkey told Syria Direct. “It has been eroded by complex and arbitrary procedures, marked by clear legal violations in many cases, and I have communicated this opinion to the official bodies concerned,” he added. He asked not to be named for his safety, despite speaking to the media in the past about similar issues. 

“It is neither logical nor legal to classify Mr. Taha as a national security threat,” the lawyer added. “He is just a human rights activist focused on defending Syrian refugees; there is no justification for imposing such a serious designation.” 

The accusation of “threatening national security” is loose in Turkey, and can be applied to anyone as there are no clear criteria or regulations defining what constitutes an actual threat, the lawyer added. This vagueness opens the door for the authorities to use this designation for repression, in violation of the law, he added. 

Those facing this accusation—like al-Ghazi—are essentially deprived of any legal protection, leaving them vulnerable to arrest, deportation, suspension of official documents and other punitive measures with little recourse, the lawyer added. 

The problem “lies not in the absence of a judiciary, but in the difficulty of accessing it,” he said. Refugees face “major obstacles in pursuing legal channels, and have no real legal cover, despite being under so-called temporary protection.”

The lawyer voiced concerns about increasing restrictions on those who “adopt the path of defending Syrian refugees’ rights in Turkey” ever since the November 27, 2023 arrest of activist Ahmed Katie, who was charged with spying for France. 

Activists “have paid heavy prices,” added the lawyer, who himself advocates for Syrians in Turkey. “Anyone who wants to live in Turkey, under the current conditions, has to shut up.” 

Advocacy abroad

With restrictions on refugee rights defenders in Turkey, Syrian activists in Europe have stepped in to shed light on violations. Among them is Mouatasem Alrifai, head of the relations office at the Syrian Political Movement Tamkeen, which coordinates with European members of parliament in Brussels and Berlin. 

Alrifai hopes their work “bears fruit, and pushes the European Union to act urgently to stop violations,” he said. “To that end, we are working to expand the sphere of action to build pressure at multiple levels,” he told Syria Direct. 

Al-Ghazi’s deportation “is not an isolated case,” Alrifai said. “There are similar cases, including that of Syrian human rights activist Ahmad Katie, who faced severe pressure and threats in Turkey for his work defending refugees. He is still detained today, with two of his colleagues,” he added. Tamkeen brings up these cases with EU institutions and member states to work for the protection of Syrians in Turkey, including journalists and human rights activists. 

“Although Taha al-Ghazi’s deportation has already taken place, the German-European efforts continue, not just for his sake, but to protect his colleagues, family and all refugees facing the same danger,” Alrifai said. “We are holding discussions with a number of members of the German parliament [Bundestag] to have the issue raised there.”

Tamkeen has also worked with a number of European Parliament members, from various political blocs, to draft a letter urging the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to act. 

Advocates hope to achieve several demands, including “condemning the deportation of Taha al-Ghazi and his wife and investigating the impacts of the European-Turkish [migration] deal on human rights,” Alrifai said. Other goals include “suspending European cooperation with Ankara, ensuring respect for international legal commitments and granting political asylum and protection to al-Ghazi, his family and threatened colleagues.” 

Clampdown consequences

Increasingly frequent prosecutions, arrests and deportations of Syrian refugees—especially those critical of Turkish government policies—have created a climate of fear and self-censorship among activists. Many refrain from “speaking out or documenting violations, which directly impacts refugees’ ability to access legal, media and even humanitarian support,” Alrifai said. 

He warned that the shrinking civil space for Syrian human rights activists in Turkey threatens the loss of the only means of protection that remain for refugees facing deportation, detention or torture.

Many Syrians are afraid to demand their rights, especially after incidents in which Syrian victims of theft or assault who attempted to do so were themselves deported, al-Ghazi said. Activists like him provided “a cover that harmed Syrians could shelter behind to convey their grievances,” he added. 

In a statement published on May 20, the Turkish Refugee Rights Platform warned that leaving the rights of migrants to arbitrary general security practices undermines social trust. It called on Turkish authorities to abide by national and international legal standards, emphasizing the need to “reconsider migration management on the basis of human rights and legal principles.” 

Al-Ghazi was deported faster than advocates could mobilize for his release, as they did in the case of Syrian nasheed singer Haitham al-Halabi. Al-Halabi was detained in December 2024, but the protection team of Turkey’s Civil Society Organizations Platform successfully stopped his deportation. 

The team noted in a statement at the time that Turkish deportation centers were filled with legitimate refugees, and called for the current policies and regulations to be reconsidered, to address the root of the problem. 

Despite his deportation, al-Ghazi plans to continue supporting Syrian refugees and coordinating with Turkish human rights bodies from northern Syria. He has no plans to stop the “volunteer work I started in 2017, without receiving any support,” he said. This “was a point of strength, and allowed me to work independently.”

This report was originally published in Arabic and translated into English by Mateo Nelson.