Afghan migrants accused Turkish border forces of beating, robbing and abandoning them in freezing weather near the Iranian border, leaving 11 people with amputations and at least 20 others dead, according to a BBC Afghan Forensic investigation published by BBC’s Turkish service.
The investigation was based on interviews with 12 Afghan migrants, ages 13 to 25, who said they were among a group of about 50 people detained in January in Van, an eastern Turkish province on the border with Iran and a route used by migrants trying to reach Europe.
The migrants alleged that Turkish security forces held them for several days in harsh conditions, beat them with iron rods, took their shoes, socks and belongings and later forced them toward Iran in groups while temperatures fell to minus 15 degrees Celsius, BBC Turkish reported.
Eleven people, including 13-year-old Asim, later had limbs amputated because of frostbite, while five of the migrants told the BBC they saw at least 20 people freeze to death.
One of the migrants, identified as 21-year-old Shahsavar, had both legs and both hands amputated after he was taken to a hospital in Kabul, the report said.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry denied the allegations, telling BBC Afghan Forensic that Turkish border security forces act in line with national and international law and respect human dignity.
The ministry also said irregular migrants taken into custody receive food, water and medical assistance and that Turkey applies humanitarian standards without compromise, according to BBC Turkish.
Turkey hosts one of the world’s largest refugee populations and has received praise for taking in millions of people fleeing war, including Syrians and Afghans. Rights groups, however, have accused Turkish authorities of pushing Afghans back across the border with Iran or deporting them to Afghanistan without allowing them to seek protection.
Human Rights Watch said in 2022 that Turkey was pushing Afghans back at its border with Iran and deporting others to Afghanistan with little or no review of their asylum claims. Amnesty International also reported in 2022 that Turkish and Iranian authorities had unlawfully returned Afghan men, women and children and denied many access to protection procedures.
A lawyer with the Van Bar Association told BBC Afghan Forensic that the bar had not received information about the latest allegations but knew that pushback and hypothermia cases had occurred in the region.
BBC Afghan Forensic also requested comment from Iranian authorities.