Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] released a 27-page report [text] on Monday alleging that Jordan conducted mass summary deportations [press release] of Syrian refugees without affording them an adequate opportunity to challenge their removal from the country.

The report claims that Jordan deported 400 registered Syrian refugees each month during the first five months of this year, with an additional 500 Syrian refugees having been returned to Syria under less clear circumstances. According to interviews conducted by HRW, the refugees stated that the authorities did not produce any evidence of wrongdoing or state any reason for the deportation. The interviews also confirmed that the refugees were not given “any real opportunity” to contest the removal, or seek legal help or the assistance of the < a href="http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/">UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the report, the deportations appear to have spiked following armed attacks on Jordan’s military forces, such as the June 2016 attack [CNN report] in northeast Jordan that killed seven, and the December 2016 attacks [BBC report] that killed 19 in the southern city of Karak. Pointing out that ISIS has claimed responsibility for both the attacks, the report stated that “Jordanian authorities have neither provided evidence that any deportees were involved in any of these attacks nor publicly alleged that they were involved.” The report also points out that “collective expulsions,” which lacks due process, are a violation of the Arab Charter on Human Rights [text], to which Jordan is a party.

HRW Refugee Rights Director Bill Frelick appealed to Jordan to stop the collective expulsions, saying:

While recognizing that Jordan has generously hosted more than 600,000 Syrian refugees, many for six years, and that support from the international community has been inadequate, these factors do not excuse unlawful collective expulsions and the return of refugees to serious risk of persecution, torture, and other human rights violations. Human Rights Watch calls on Jordan to stop the collective expulsion of Syrian refugees, to give individual Syrians suspected of being national security threats a fair opportunity to challenge the evidence against them, and to consider the risk of torture and other severe human rights abuse before returning them to Syria.