Amnesty: Syria refugees suffered abuse, torture upon return

By ZEINA KARAM
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Amnesty International says Syrian security forces have subjected Syrians who return home to detention, disappearance and torture. Its new report documents what the group says were violations committed by Syrian intelligence officers against some returnees, including 13 children between mid-2017 and spring 2021. They include five cases in which detainees had died in custody after returning to Syria, while the fate of 17 forcibly disappeared people remains unknown. Amnesty says the abuses were proof that it’s still not safe for refugees to return to any part of the country torn by civil war. It criticizes countries like Denmark, Sweden and Turkey for putting pressure on Syrian refugees to go home.