Sixteen migrants, including three children, were killed by guards as they crossed into Turkey over the past four months

Turkish border forces are shooting refugees dead as they flee the civil war in Syria, The Times has learnt.

Sixteen migrants, including three children, were killed by guards as they crossed into Turkey over the past four months, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring organisation.

An officer in the British-backed Free Syrian Police and a Syrian smuggler living in Turkey said that the true number was higher.

The deaths cast further doubt on an EU migrant deal struck 11 days ago. It classes Turkey as a “safe third country”, meaning refugees can be returned there without fear of persecution.

Ankara’s crackdown began in December after four years during which Syrians were able to cross the border even if they did not