Afghan Migrants: Torture Allegations and Death in Freezing Turkey Border Conditions

DID Press: Twelve Afghan migrants attempting to reach Europe in January have told the BBC that they were detained, beaten, stripped, and pushed back toward the Iranian border by Turkish border forces in the city of Van, where temperatures reportedly dropped to around -15°C.

The group said they were part of a larger group of 50 people who were arrested during the incident and later forced back toward the Iran–Turkey border in severe winter conditions.

According to their accounts, at least 20 people died due to extreme cold, while 11 of the 12 interviewed survivors—including a 13-year-old child—suffered severe frostbite leading to the loss of limbs.

One survivor, 21-year-old Shahsawar, said: “When I woke up in a hospital in Kabul, I saw that both my hands and feet had been amputated. My heart broke and I could no longer speak.”

Another survivor, 23-year-old Alaudin, said the migrants were held in a warehouse and subjected to forced labor and violence: “They beat us and forced us to crawl on the ground.”

The testimonies also describe migrants becoming lost in snowstorms after being abandoned, with several dying in the freezing conditions. One member of the group, Daniyal, reportedly disappeared in the snow and was later found dead.

A 13-year-old child named Asim was also rescued from beneath the snow and later had part of his legs amputated due to severe frostbite.

Following the incident, survivors were transferred first to Iran and then to Afghanistan, where they are receiving treatment in hospitals in Kabul. Doctors said delayed medical care worsened frostbite injuries beyond recovery in several cases.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has rejected the allegations, stating that border forces acted in accordance with national and international law and provided migrants with food and medical assistance.

The report comes amid warnings from migrant rights activists about rising forced returns and increasingly dangerous migration routes along the Iran–Turkey corridor since 2021.