Dozens of migrants have claimed that they were tortured and starved in Turkish detention centers before being sent home

The European Union has paid for the construction and operation of 30 migrant “removal centers” in Türkiye, where migrants are reportedly held in miserable conditions before being deported to countries considered unsafe by Brussels, according to an investigation by Politico and other news outlets.

Ever since the Syrian refugee crisis of 2015, Türkiye has played a key role in stemming the flow of migrants to Europe. The EU has poured more than €11 billion into helping Ankara process and house four million people, while beefing up its border security to prevent more arrivals. Over nearly a decade, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used his country’s role in managing the crisis to extract cash and concessions from the EU, occasionally releasing large numbers of migrants toward the bloc as an apparent negotiating tactic.

In recent years, however, much of this EU funding has been used by Ankara for the deportation of hundreds of thousands of migrants. Six EU-financed ‘reception centers’ have been converted into “removal centers,” according to a European Commission document obtained by Politico. In total, the EU has financed the construction of 14 such facilities, the refurbishment of 11 more, and the staffing and operation of a total of 30, the news site claimed on Friday.

Read more

Citing testimony from 37 former detainees held in 22 EU-funded facilities, Politico described conditions in the removal centers as grim. Migrants are denied food and medical treatment, subjected to torture, and beaten until they sign papers requesting “voluntary” deportation, the article claimed.

The Turkish government has denied any ill-treatment or coercion of migrants. As of last month, more than 715,000 Syrians have returned “voluntarily, safely and with dignity,” to their home country, according to the Directorate General of Migration Management in Ankara. Between 2021 and 2022, Ankara also claims to have returned more than 66,000 migrants to Afghanistan, although Politico’s sources said that the true number is far higher.

During his re-election campaign last year, Erdogan vowed to oversee the “voluntary” deportation of a million migrants to northern Syria.

EU law forbids the deportation of migrants to Syria or Afghanistan, both of which are considered unsafe countries by Brussels. Likewise, the alleged conditions in Türkiye’s detention centers have been criticized in multiple European Commission reports.

READ MORE: EU doubles down in refugee dispute with member state

However, a spokesperson for the commission said that it is up to Türkiye to decide how it uses its EU funding.

”Türkiye has its own set of legislation when it comes to recognition of refugees and migration management. In this context, the enforcement and protection of these formal rights remain the responsibility of Türkiye,” the spokesperson said on Friday. “It is the responsibility of the Turkish authorities to thoroughly investigate allegations of wrongdoing and we urge them to do so.”