Some Syrians in Turkey will reach Europe safely through the controversial one-returned, one-forwarded agreement drawn up by Ankara and the European Union last month, but prospects for Afghans here are far bleaker.

Despite fleeing 15 years of war, occupation and oppression under the Taliban, Afghans are among the main group of nationalities being returned to Turkey as part of a deal designed to close down the sea route to Greece through which more than 1.1 million people have reached Europe since January 2015. Upon returning to Turkey, Afghans are far from safe, and risk deportation to Afghanistan by the authorities.

Life in Turkey has worsened in recent years for Afghans, who have fled the 2001 US invasion and war that followed. When Turkey’s aid agencies shifted their attention to deal with the humanitarian fallout of the Syrian war in 2012, tens of thousands of Afghans were left to fend for themselves.

Seriously disadvantaged

Afghan asylum-seekers cannot legally work in Turkey, so many have been forced to seek out poorly-paid informal employment and are seriously disadvantaged when seeking health support or renting property.

In 2014, a dozen Afghans sewed their lips together outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Ankara to protest about slow asylum screening processes and deteriorating living conditions.

With Syrians taking up the vast majority of the limited third country asylum places on offer, only the most vulnerable Afghans – unaccompanied minors or those suffering serious illnesses – could hope for resettlement in Europe, Australia or North America.

All these difficulties combined mean more and more see their only hope for the future lies in fleeing to Europe.

Ali Hekmet from Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan is among a minority from his country who decided several years ago to stay in Turkey. Having learned Turkish he and his wife are studying at a university in the city of Kayseri. He says the majority of the 52 Afghan families who lived in Kayseri felt they had no option but to try to reach safety in Europe.

"In the second half of last year 90 per cent of the Afghan families here left; most of them are now in Germany, we heard that one family drowned on the sea in Greece," he said.

For him, returning to Afghanistan now would be as dangerous as during the darkest chapters of the US-led occupation of the country. Conditions in his home province of Ghazni remain perilous and are worsening, he says, and returning home could cost him his life.

There were more casualties in Afghanistan last year than any other since the 2001 invasion, with more than 11,000 killed. The Taliban controls or heavily influences about half the country.

So when Greece opened up as a possible route to continental Europe last year, hundreds of thousands of Afghans arrived in Turkey hoping to pass through unhindered. About 250,000 are thought to have succeeded, though more than 35,000 have been detained by Turkish authorities.

Next to Syrians, Afghans are the largest nationality to have sought asylum in Europe last year according to Eurostat, the European Commission-run statistics agency. The Turkey-EU agreement, which came into force on April 4th, sees all illegal arrivals to Greece deported back to Turkey if they have not sought asylum or their applications are rejected.

Turkey says it repatriated 27 volunteering Afghans home on March 18th, though rights groups have contested the legality of this move. One Afghan among in group told Amnesty International: "We don't want to go back because we are in danger in Afghanistan. If we go back, we will be killed by the Taliban."

Safe country

Afghanistan has said only Afghans volunteering to return home would be accepted. These events have called into question the European Union’s assertion that Turkey is a safe country for those being returned from Greece.

According to the Co-ordinating Body for the Refugee Crisis Management, a Greek government agency, 42 of the 202 people returned from Greece to Turkey since April 4th are Afghans. For now, there are no further scheduled deportations to Turkey planned.

For Ali Hekmet, who has carved out a life in Turkey, staying put may soon no longer be an option.

“The Turkish government doesn’t allow us to work,” he said. “If the UNHCR doesn’t resettle us in a third country, then we will leave next year; we will try to reach Europe.”