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In the months leading up to its military operation in northeastern Syria, Turkey illegally forced Syrian refugees to return to the war zone, putting their lives in grave danger, DW reported, citing Amnesty International.

"Turkey's claim that refugees from Syria are choosing to walk straight back into the conflict is dangerous and dishonest," said Anna Shea, researcher on Refugee and Migrant Rights at Amnesty International. "Rather, our research shows that people are being tricked or forced into returning."

Dozens of refugees told the organization that the Turkish police beat and threatened them into signing documents saying they were willingly returning to Syria. Based on interviews conducted between July and October this year, researchers estimate that hundreds of people have been sent back unlawfully and against their will.

Records from the Turkish authorities claim that 315,000 people have returned to Syria voluntarily. Turkey has taken in some 3.6 million Syrians in the past eight years, the report said.

It is currently illegal to deport people to Syria due to the risk of exposure to human rights violations.

While some were beaten or threatened with violence or prison, the police also deceived people to get them to sign "voluntary return" statements.

Refugees were told the documents they were signing were registrations, receipts, or even forms that said they wished to stay in Turkey. Others were told, falsely, that they were not properly registered in that province of Turkey and must therefore return to Syria.

Routine encounters with the police or migration officials, like renewing documents or showing identification on the street, could result in forced deportation to a war zone, the report says.