Return of Farmers to Idlib and Hama Generate Legal Disputes Over Land Property and Use

With the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, most forcibly displaced people in camps in northern Syria returned to their hometowns and farmland across the rural areas of Hama and Idlib governorates. Farmers are reclaiming their lands individually, sometimes relying on local military forces to assert their ownership and remove those who had taken over their lands. 

Many of these agricultural lands had been allocated to investors through public auctions in recent years. So far, The Syria Report has not documented any cases of resistance from these investors, possibly due to fear of repercussions, acceptance of the new reality, or even implicit recognition of the returnees’ rights.

The administration of the governorates of Idlib and Hama that was previously governed by the Assad regime’s Ministry of Local Administration and Services had classified these lands as vacant because their original owners had been forcibly displaced to opposition-controlled areas in northwestern Syria. In a systematic and organised process that gradually developed from 2020 until the fall of the regime at the end of 2024, all such vacant lands were offered for investment through public auctions, including uncultivated (“saleekh”) lands and those planted with fruit-bearing trees.

On January 10, farmer Ahmad Al-Khalif returned from the Qaah camps in northern Idlib to his land in the city of Mhardeh, western Hama. He found that his one-hectare plot of uncultivated land had been planted with anise. Originally, Mr Al-Khalif’s land was saleekh, with no trees, and before the revolution, he grew grains, occasionally irrigating it with water from nearby channels. He approached the investor who had been cultivating his land -the neighbouring landowner – and demanded its return along with compensation for the years it had been used without his consent. Mr Al-Khalif suggested that the investor lease one hectare of his adjacent 30-hectare plot. The investor did not object and immediately returned Al-Khalif’s original land. He also agreed to lease one hectare of his own land to Al-Khalif for ten years without charge. The two formalised their agreement with a lease contract, which they registered with the notary public in Hama as a future legal safeguard, Mr Al-Khalif explained.

Other farmers from Khan Sheikhoun told The Syria Report they intended to file lawsuits against the previous investors of their lands. They argued that these investors had refused to give the rightful owners any share of the agricultural yields because  they had paid investment fees to the provincial authorities at the time.

Meanwhile, a major challenge now facing those who have reclaimed their pistachio orchards is reviving the trees, which require around 15 years to reach full production. For example, upon his return, Majed Qutayni discovered that several dozen of his 350 pistachio trees in eastern Khan Sheikhoun had dried up. He immediately set about removing around 30 dead trees, planting new ones in their place, pruning the remaining trees, cutting away dry branches, and fertilising the field in an effort to restore its former vitality and productivity.

Mr Qutayni’s case is not unique; many pistachio trees on previously invested lands have withered due to investor neglect. Since the investors were focused solely on harvesting profits, they left the land unattended, failing to plough, weed, irrigate, or fertilise it. Governorate authorities did not impose any obligations on them to maintain the land.

In 2022, a lawyer from Homs invested in Mr Qutayni’s land. However, following an agreement with his uncle -who had remained in Khan Sheikhoun under regime control at the time – Mr Qutayni was able to have his land included in special investment auctions for relatives, which were typically settled through mutual consent. As a result, his uncle managed the land over the past years, sharing the costs and profits. Mr Qutayni told The Syria Report that he now intends to demand compensation from his uncle, as he questions the accuracy of the past financial records. However, he faces a dilemma: he wants to resolve the matter amicably and privately without resorting to legal action against his uncle.

Unlike the pistachio harvest, which had already been gathered before the fall of the regime, farmers returning to towns in western rural Hama – such as Kafr Nabudah, Hayalin Al-Ghab, and Al-Jalma – found their lands planted with crops still awaiting harvest, such as potatoes. These lands had been leased through public auctions for vacant saleekh lands, organised by the Hama provincial authorities for the 2024–2025 agricultural season. The returning landowners harvested the potatoes without facing objections from the investors and sold them for their own benefit. Some of them also demanded compensation from the previous investors for past years.

In another case, ten returning farmers from various camps in northern Idlib were able to plant their lands with soft wheat in the Ghab Plain, northwestern Hama, near the town of Jourin, which had been a military base for Assad regime forces. These farmers owned adjacent plots of land that had been taken over and farmed by a regime officer for personal gain, without any formal investment contract, since 2015. According to a Syria Report correspondent, these ten farmers intend to seek compensation for the previous years when circumstances allow.

The return of farmers to their lands in Idlib and Hama reflects a shifting landscape of property rights and restitution, where the process varies between peaceful negotiations and potential legal disputes with former investors. Nevertheless, challenges remain, from rehabilitating the land and securing compensation for lost years to restoring agricultural production after years of neglect and exploitation.