Both had been cut off. My throat closed up and I couldn't speak.
In the bitter cold of January 2026, fifty Afghan men and boys crossed into eastern Turkey seeking passage to a safer life, and instead encountered what survivors describe as a systematic brutality that left at least twenty dead and eleven permanently maimed. Their testimony — of iron rods, stripped clothing, and bodies pushed into a blizzard at minus fifteen degrees — raises ancient and unresolved questions about what obligations the powerful owe to the desperate. Turkey denies the allegations, framing its border operations as lawful and humane, while the survivors carry the evidence of that night in their missing limbs. This story belongs to a longer human reckoning with borders, belonging, and the cost of being unwanted.
- Fifty Afghan migrants, including children, were allegedly beaten with iron bars, stripped naked, and forced into a blizzard at -15°C by Turkish border guards on January 25th, 2026.
- At least twenty people died from exposure that night; a thirteen-year-old boy was found frozen in the snow, and a young man named Ahmed died in another survivor's arms against a rock.
- A frostbitten thirteen-year-old named Asim, discovered barely conscious by fellow migrants, pointed rescuers toward a sheltering companion — a single gesture that saved a life amid the chaos.
- Survivors were denied hospital treatment in Iran for days; by the time medical care reached them in Kabul, frostbite had turned their flesh black, and eleven of twelve lost limbs to amputation.
- Turkey's foreign ministry flatly denies the allegations, calling them unfounded and insisting border forces acted in accordance with national and international law throughout.
- Rights activists say this incident is not isolated but reflects a pattern of border violence that has intensified since the Taliban's return to power drove a surge of Afghan migration in 2021.
In January 2026, fifty Afghan migrants crossed into Turkey near the eastern city of Van, where temperatures had fallen to minus fifteen degrees Celsius. What survivors describe to the BBC is not a border crossing but an ordeal: days held in a freezing warehouse, fed once daily on bread and water, forced to perform hard labor in the cold.
On January 25th, the situation turned catastrophic. Survivors say guards lined them up, beat them with iron bars, stripped them, bound their hands, and forced them to crawl toward a hill before pushing them through barbed wire into a blizzard. Bleeding and barely clothed, the men and boys stumbled into near-zero visibility with no sense of direction.
A twenty-one-year-old named Shahsawar found shelter against a rock. A thirteen-year-old named Asim and another man, Ahmed, joined him. By morning, Ahmed had died in Shahsawar's arms. A boy named Danial, lost almost immediately in the storm, was later found dead in the snow. Asim was eventually discovered by other migrants searching for survivors — wet, frostbitten, barely conscious. When asked if he was alone, he raised a hand and pointed toward the rock where Shahsawar lay. That gesture saved Shahsawar's life.
The survivors sought medical help in Iran and were turned away. It was not until January 29th that the Afghan embassy in Tehran began coordinating assistance, and several days more before the Red Crescent transferred the group overland to Kabul. By then, frostbite had blackened the flesh of Shahsawar and ten others. At the hospital, his father and brother signed the consent forms. Both his hands and both his legs were amputated. When he came to, he raised his arms and felt how light they were. "My throat closed up," he told the BBC, "and I couldn't speak."
Eleven of the twelve survivors who spoke to the BBC lost limbs. Turkish authorities denied the allegations, stating that border forces acted in accordance with the law and provided detained migrants with food, water, and medical care. Migrant-rights advocates say the incident reflects a broader pattern of violence at Turkey's eastern border that has grown more frequent since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
In January, a group of fifty Afghan migrants crossed into Turkey through the Iranian border near Van, a city in the country's east where the thermometer had plummeted to minus fifteen degrees Celsius. What followed, according to a dozen of those migrants who later spoke to the BBC, was a sequence of events that left at least twenty people dead and eleven survivors permanently disabled.
The migrants say they were detained immediately upon arrival in Van. Turkish border guards, they allege, held them in a warehouse for several nights where snow fell through gaps in the structure. Food came once daily—water and dry bread. The men and boys were forced to perform hard labor: carrying wood, clearing snow, their bodies weakening in the cold.
On January 25th, the violence escalated. The migrants describe being lined up again by guards, then beaten with iron bars. They were stripped of their clothes, their hands tied behind their backs, and forced to crawl on their stomachs toward a hill. Blood ran down shoulders. Some had been struck so severely they could no longer move their hands. Then, wearing only trousers, they were pushed through barbed wire into a blizzard. It was a stormy night with heavy snow and almost no visibility. They had no idea which direction to go or whether they would survive.
Shahsawar, twenty-one years old, found shelter against a large rock. A thirteen-year-old named Asim joined him, along with another migrant named Ahmed, whose hands were already frozen stiff. In the morning, Asim moved on. Ahmed, lying in Shahsawar's arms, stopped breathing. A boy named Danial, who had gotten lost almost immediately after being pushed into the snow, was later found dead.
Asim was eventually discovered by other migrants who had been searching for their companions. A video posted on social media shows him being found—wet, frostbitten, barely able to speak. When rescuers asked if he was alone, he pointed with his hand toward the rock where Shahsawar was sheltering. That gesture saved Shahsawar's life.
The survivors sought help in Iran but were refused hospital treatment. On January 29th, the Afghan embassy in Tehran began coordinating aid. Four days later, the Red Crescent Society transferred the group overland to Herat Province and then to Kabul for medical care. By then, the frostbite affecting Shahsawar and ten others had turned parts of their bodies black. Shahsawar watched his hands and feet darken. His entire body itched.
When he arrived at the Kabul hospital, his father and brother signed a document. Shahsawar was taken into an operating theatre. Both his legs and both his hands were amputated. He regained consciousness to discover what had been done. "I raised my hands," he told the BBC. "They felt light. Both had been cut off. My throat closed up and I couldn't speak."
Frostbite can be successfully treated if medical care arrives quickly. For these boys and men, it did not. Eleven of the twelve survivors who spoke to the BBC eventually lost limbs. Turkish authorities, when approached for comment, did not specifically address the allegations. The foreign ministry stated that border forces followed national and international laws and provided detained migrants with necessary assistance, including food, water, and medical care. They characterized the allegations as unfounded and said they unfairly cast a shadow on Turkey's efforts to combat irregular migration. The Iranian authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
Citas Notables
I raised my hands—they felt light. Both had been cut off. My throat closed up and I couldn't speak.— Shahsawar, 21, Afghan migrant, speaking to the BBC about waking in a Kabul hospital
They forced us to do hard labour. We had to carry wood and clear snow.— Alwaldin, 23, Afghan migrant, describing conditions in Turkish detention
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does this story matter now, in 2026? Afghan migration to Turkey isn't new.
The scale and the pattern. Since the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021, there's been a surge. And the routes have gotten more dangerous because Turkey increased border surveillance. Migrants are being forced into the mountains in winter.
So this incident—January 2026—is part of a larger pattern?
Yes. Activists in Van say they've documented multiple cases of alleged push-backs, beatings, denial of asylum access. This one is just the most documented because the BBC found the survivors and they were willing to speak.
The amputations are the most striking detail. But what's the actual mechanism? Why did eleven lose limbs?
Delayed medical care. Frostbite is treatable if you get to a hospital within hours. These men were abandoned in snow for days, then refused treatment in Iran. By the time they reached Kabul, the tissue was already dead. Amputation was the only option.
And Turkey denies this happened?
Turkey denies the allegations and frames it as effective migration management. But the evidence here is direct testimony from survivors, a video, medical records from Kabul hospital. The denial doesn't address the specifics.
What happens to these men now?
They're alive, but they're twenty-five or younger, mostly, and they've lost hands and feet. They're back in Afghanistan, a country in economic collapse. No prosthetics, no rehabilitation infrastructure. The story doesn't end at the hospital.