Turkish authorities today moved at least 20 Iranian and Afghan asylum seekers from a refugee camp in Edirne, north-west Turkey, to an undisclosed location for deportation.
Shahla Chorkeh, the wife of Amir Kahrizi, one of the asylum seekers, shared her concerns with the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) and said: “Today, my husband informed me through a short phone call that at least 20 Iranian political refugees detained in the Edirne city camp in Turkey have been summoned. They have been ordered to move to an undisclosed location. We now have no information on their current status, other than unconfirmed reports of their possible transfer to a camp near the Iranian-Turkish border in the town of Agri”.
There is no information on the identities of the remaining 19 political refugees in question.
Amir Kahrizi, a member of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan from Kermanshah, was arrested by Greek authorities on 7 May while on his way to Europe as a political asylum seeker.
Before travelling to Europe, Kahrizi had lived in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for 10 years.
After his arrest, Kahrizi was handed over to Turkey and was in a state of uncertainty in the Edirne refugee camp.
In a similar incident on 3 August, Shahriyar Baratinia, a former political prisoner from Yasuj, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, was deported to Iran after being arrested in Istanbul, Turkey.
In recent days, Baratinia informed his family of his transfer to Ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison in a brief telephone call.
