Urget Action Outcome: Syrian Refugee Deported Despite Red Notice Removal

On 27 October 2025, Turkish authorities deported Syrian refugee Mohamad Alkayali to Syria and imposed a five-year ban on his re-entry to Türkiye. His deportation followed nearly 10 months of detention, despite the removal in July 2025 of a 2016 INTERPOL Red Notice, issued at the request of Saudi Arabia, which had formed the basis for his arrest.

NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS.

On 27 October 2025, Turkish authorities deported Syrian refugee Mohamad Alkayali to Syria and banned him from returning to Türkiye for five years. This followed his detention since 27 December 2024, which was based on an INTERPOL Red Notice issued by Saudi Arabia in 2016, three years after his departure from Saudi Arabia, where he was residing at the time and had faced harassment for criticizing the government’s treatment of Syrian refugees.

The INTERPOL Red Notice accused Mohamad Alkayali of “forgery of seals”, a charge that he denied, and which Saudi authorities did not substantiate with any formal charges or court documents. 

On 25 July 2025, INTERPOL lifted the Red Notice after he successfully challenged it on legal grounds. Despite this, Turkish authorities continued to detain him. 

At a hearing on 30 July 2025, the Kırklareli administrative court rejected his lawyers request for his release on grounds that two ‘security codes’ that had been assigned to him were still active. One of these security codes related to the lifted INTERPOL Red Notice, the other concerned the same unsubstantiated to ‘forgery’ accusation. Neither should have justified his continued detention, following the lifting of the Red Notice. Mohamad Alkayali requested voluntary return to Syria, which resulted in his deportation on 27 October. 

Speaking to Amnesty International, his wife thanked everyone who took action to try and secure his release. 

Mohamad Alkayali’s case highlights the ongoing misuse of INTERPOL Red Notices by governments engaging in transnational repression, and the need for Turkish authorities and INTERPOL to apply greater scrutiny to politically motivated requests. Amnesty International will continue to campaign against the misuse of international policing mechanisms and for the protection of people at risk of human rights violations.