Pressures and Raids Drive Residents of Al-Sumariya Out of Their Homes

Since Assad’s downfall, the Al-Sumariya neighbourhood west of Damascus – home to a majority Alawite population – has turned into an arena of disputes over housing and property. Sectarian pressures, conflicting official positions, and the presence of multiple armed groups have converged to create a situation in which repeated sieges, raids, and threats appear designed to push residents to leave. Meanwhile, the Damascus governorate and other official bodies have failed to provide protection or alternative solutions for those affected.

Background

Before 2011, Al-Sumariya was known as a newly emerging residential area on the western edge of Damascus, adjacent to the main road leading to Moadamiyeh Al-Sham and Darayya. The neighbourhood gradually took shape in the 1970s with the establishment of military housing, alongside which an informal settlement appeared. Administratively, it remained under the jurisdiction of the Damascus governorate.

Most of the land on which the neighbourhood was built had been expropriated by the state, particularly by the Ministry of Defence, from the nearby town of Moadamiyeh Al-Sham in Rural Damascus. Moadamiyeh itself was originally an agricultural village in the western Ghouta, which since the 1950s had undergone successive waves of expropriation that converted large parts of its farmland and private properties into public lands under the control of the Ministries of Defence and Interior and the Damascus governorate. On these expropriated plots, key facilities were built, including the Mazzeh military airport and the Air Force Intelligence headquarters, as well as police housing, several prisons affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, and the military housing units of Al-Sumariya.

The entire Al-Sumariya area consists of state-owned land. Its inhabited section, home to around 50,000 people, is divided into two overlapping areas: one zoned and one informal. The zoned area is made up of military housing that first appeared in the 1970s as residences for members of the Fourth Division, later expanding to include housing for Air Force Intelligence and the Republican Guard. The number of military housing units reached around 5,000, allocated mainly to non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel rather than senior officers.

There are two types of military housing, both of which fall under social housing schemes. The first is functional housing provided by the Ministry of Defence to certain army personnel during their service, for a nominal rent, and which must be vacated upon retirement or discharge. The second is social housing provided by the Military Housing Establishment, affiliated with the Ministry of Defence, which sells units to military personnel through monthly installments. Once payments are completed, owners have the right to sell or otherwise dispose of their properties. In practice, distinguishing between these two types is extremely difficult due to the limited information made available by the Ministry of Defence, their intermixing, and instances where senior officers unlawfully seized buildings, selling or renting apartments for their own benefit.

The second is informal, consisting of unlicensed buildings erected on public land alongside, and sometimes within, the plots of military housing. It is estimated to comprise around 1,700 homes. Most residents of this informal area are Alawites, primarily public sector employees working in Damascus and its countryside.

After the fall of the regime

Following the collapse of Assad’s regime, the Fourth Division disintegrated, and its personnel fled their positions in Al-Sumariya, its surroundings, the Air Force Intelligence headquarters, and the Mazzeh airport. A large number of military personnel and their families who had been living in the military housing in Al-Sumariya also fled, fearing killing or reprisals.

Soon afterwards, an armed group from nearby Moadamiyeh took control of the neighbourhood. Some members of this group had previously served either in the Fourth Division or in Military Intelligence during its control over Moadamiyeh after a reconciliation agreement signed there in 2016. According to eyewitnesses, when this group entered Al-Sumariya, its members fired shots into the air while chanting threats such as: “This is our land; get out.” At that point, some of the vacant military homes and shops were looted and burned.

In January, unconfirmed reports circulated of a Ministry of Defence decision ordering the evacuation of residents of the military housing. The rumour,spread by the commander of the Moadamiyeh armed group, was not verified, but out of fear, most of the residents of the military housing left, taking only what little they could. During this period, a General Security detachment was established in the neighbourhood, and its personnel seized some of the vacated housing units.

In document No. 3904, issued by the Damascus governorate in February, the governorate stated that it has jurisdiction over the informal settlement and the houses within it, and that no administrative measure may be taken without its approval.

In July, the neighbourhood came under siege by an armed group whose identity and affiliation remain unclear, amid contradictory rumours that they were from Moadamiyeh or from Dimas, a nearby town. This group closed off all entrances to Al-Sumariya with earthen berms and barbed wire, leaving only two pedestrian passages and one vehicle access point under strict surveillance. This caused severe shortages of food and medicine, with even bread and vegetables barred from entry.

Masked gunmen spread throughout the area, provoking multiple incidents with women and young men. According to local testimonies, simply being caught with an alcoholic beverage was enough to result in a month-long imprisonment by General Security, in addition to beatings and sectarian insults.

The mounting pressure pushed residents to protest. On July 8, a delegation went to the governorate building and the Presidential Palace to demand their right to remain in their homes and to reject eviction, local sources explained. Their requests were ignored. Days later, vehicles flying Islamic banners roamed the neighbourhood, photographing houses and further heightening fear and uncertainty.

On August 27, a military force led by a man known as “Abu Hudhayfa,” who claimed to be from Moadamiyeh and to act on direct instructions from the Presidential Palace, stormed the neighbourhood. The force raided homes and detained dozens of young men and boys, including a ten-year-old child, inside Building No. 22 of the military housing complex .The detainees were beaten, subjected to sectarian insults, and threatened with death.

The Al-Sumariya mukhtar and members of the neighbourhood committee were also insulted and beaten. According to several testimonies, doors were smashed, women and children were verbally and physically assaulted, and money and valuables were stolen from homes.

By the evening of August 27, the detainees held in Building No. 22 were released, though some testimonies noted that the raiding force had marked certain houses with “X” signs on their walls, the meaning of which remains unclear. Abu Hudhayfa handed the neighbourhood committee a paper containing an eviction threat, which quickly spread on social media. The paper was unsigned, undated, and suspiciously bore the letterhead “Syrian Arab Republic – General Secretariat of the Presidency – Public Housing Committee,” with the headline “Important Legal Notice.” It contained only one sentence: “We inform all residents of the informal housing in Al-Sumariya to vacate their homes within 72 hours, under penalty of liability.” No information is available about this so-called Public Housing Committee or its relationship with the Presidency’s General Secretariat.

On August 28, a delegation including members of the neighbourhood committee, lawyers, and representatives of the informal settlement residents went to the Damascus governorate to explain what was happening. According to our sources, officials there condemned and rejected the events, calling them illegal, but at the same time admitted they were unable to intervene. Throughout all these incidents, the General Security detachment stationed in Al-Sumariya refused to intervene, despite repeated pleas from residents.

As a result, residents of Al-Sumariya continue to leave. Local estimates indicate that the military housing units have now been completely abandoned, as have most of the informal homes. Those who remain are only the families with no other place to go.

Implications and challenges of the Al-Sumariya experience

The events in Al-Sumariya reveal how the intersection of security, legal, and social factors can turn a residential area into an open arena of contestation over property and housing. The absence of a clear authority, conflicting official positions, and escalating on-the-ground pressures all combined to drive residents to leave their homes one after another.

Today, Al-Sumariya stands as a model of how housing and land issues are being managed in a turbulent transitional moment, where local communities are left with limited choices: either remain under harsh conditions or depart under threat. This model raises questions about the future of other neighbourhoods in Damascus and its outskirts, and whether fair settlements can be reached that safeguard residents’ rights and prevent the recurrence of such displacement.