Videos recently went viral showing dozens of Syrian refugees in Turkey protesting against the decision to forcibly deport them after they had been arrested days earlier in Istanbul.

The videos showed a group of young Syrians holding the official temporary protection identification document — Kimlik — including students, some of whom have official permits to work in Turkey.

Head of the Free Syrian Lawyers Association in Turkey Ghazwan Kronfol told Orient television, “In principle, it must be made clear that the deportation based on such mechanisms and through a unilateral decision by the Turkish Immigration Department that mandates the police to implement it [the deportation] is against the law and does not provide real guarantees for refugees to present their grievance to the judiciary.” 

He said, “It is important to refute each case separately. And according to what I have seen, one of the young men has a work permit in Istanbul but his residency is restricted to Ankara, which does not give him the right to live in Istanbul without transferring his place of residence there. His failure to do so is considered a violation by the Immigration Department.”