The Farmers’ Decades-Old Quest to Reclaim Confiscated Al-Liwa Lands in Suweida

For over half a century, the residents of the Al-Liwa area in northeastern part of the Suweida  governorate have been deprived of their agricultural lands, which they had inherited and cultivated. Since the late 1960s, land seizures were carried out for government expansion projects and military infrastructure, and farmers ended up as mere tenants on land that was once theirs, or even expelled and barred from approaching it when their land was designated as a military zone.

The Al-Liwa lands are located on the border between the governorate and the Al-Safa desert. This area comprises ten villages that stretch across fertile agricultural lands and grazing areas, including villages such as Al-Salmiya, Al-Haqf, Dkeir, Khalkhala, Umm Haratein, and Hazm.

For decades, the agricultural lands in Al-Liwa were a vital part of the local economy and livelihood. The residents inherited them from their ancestors and had been cultivating grain crops since the early 20th century. However, their ownership of these lands was never officially recognised. Instead, they were granted a certificate granting usufruct rights called “Sanad Tasaruuf,” which granted them the right to use and benefit from the land without legal ownership.

The farmers’ ownership rights were systematically denied through several measures. In the 1960s, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform conducted a land survey, acknowledging that the farmers had reclaimed and invested in these lands. However, it did not grant them formal ownership deeds. Instead, their lands were registered under “Sanad Tasarruf” No. 160, Record No. 7, which recognised them as holders of communal rights rather than legal owners. This document granted them usufruct rights, meaning they could use and benefit from the land, but the right of ownership remained with the state, as per Civil Law No. 84 of 1949.

In the 1990s, land delimitation and census teams from the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs revoked Sand Tasarruf No. 160, officially registering most of these lands as state-owned public property. As a result, the residents lost all legal rights to their lands and were effectively reduced to mere tenants, forced to pay rent for farming the land they once owned. They could no longer sell or formally pass down their lands, leading to prolonged legal disputes in their attempts to reclaim their rights. Moreover, this decision deprived thousands of farmers of access to agricultural loans, as the Agricultural Cooperative Bank required official ownership deeds to grant loans – documents they no longer possessed after their lands were reclassified as state property.

Despite filing official objections with the Ministry of Agriculture and the real estate courts, all lawsuits filed by the residents ended in rulings favouring the state. This was largely because the real estate judiciary was then administratively affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, making it an inherently biased party in these disputes. Thus, the farmers found themselves battling a rigid bureaucratic authority, where their opponent and judge in the case was the very entity that had confiscated their lands.

Farmer Atef Al-Aws from Al-Salmiya village complained they have to pay costly rents on the land they once owned. “This land is not just a source of livelihood; it is my family’s history. My grandparents cultivated it over a hundred years ago, yet suddenly, we were told we don’t own it. We received no compensation, and now we must pay high rents as if we are strangers on our own land.” He said they tried to file objections, but “no one listened to us.”

He added that some farmers who refused to pay the rent faced administrative penalties, such as having their agricultural transactions frozen or being barred from obtaining loans to buy farming equipment. These measures led to a decline in agricultural production in the area and increased farmers’ debts, as they continued to cultivate their lands despite the restrictions.

These actions were part of a broader state policy that extended beyond Al-Liwa, affecting other areas in and around Suweida. The land seizures were carried out for government expansion projects and military infrastructure. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a strategic military airbase was established near Khalkhala, north of Suweida, along the Damascus-Suweida road. The state confiscated vast areas of land in Al-Liwa to build the airport, without following fair expropriation procedures. The original landowners were not offered compensation or alternative land. Even when they filed complaints and legal objections, all attempts to reclaim their rights were dismissed. Furthermore, intelligence agencies warned that any opposition to the land seizures would be considered “weakening the morale of the state.”

The confiscations affected lands belonging to families from Dkeir, Khalkhala, Umm Haratein, and Hazm – lands that had been cultivated with grain for decades before being repurposed as a military base. The establishment of this base also led to strict security restrictions in the surrounding villages, with residents being prohibited from approaching certain areas around the airport. These restricted areas include the current military airport, its security perimeter, minefields, and other zones designated as off-limits for security reasons. Additionally, large sections of land were mined to protect the base, resulting in numerous civilian casualties among those who attempted to reclaim their farmland.

Sultan Sharaf, from Umm Haratein, lost his land and received no compensation. “In the 1970s, our land was taken for the airport. We had no choice. We received no compensation, we lost everything overnight.” He added that the construction of the airport did not “just take the land it was built on”, but it also “imposed restrictions on the surrounding areas, preventing us from even farming the nearby fields.”

The military base was not just an administrative land seizure, but it also imposed harsh security conditions on the surrounding villages, he explained. Residents were barred from accessing certain lands, even those that were not initially part of the airbase, but were later classified as restricted security zones.

Beyond the direct land confiscations, the minefields around the airport posed an additional threat to farmers’ lives. One resident from Hazm lost a relative due to a mine explosion.“They told us this land was no longer ours, but they didn’t tell us it had become a death zone. The mines were placed in lands that belonged to us, and they have claimed many lives from neighbouring villages. Even today, we fear going near those areas,” the resident said.

The testimonies of Al-Liwa’s residents reveal the long-lasting suffering caused by these land confiscations, which were not merely administrative decisions but actions that devastated the local agricultural economy and forced residents into displacement in search of a livelihood. While the original landowners received no compensation, they remained subject to severe restrictions preventing them from even approaching their former properties. They continued to face constant security threats and the dangers of minefields.

One resident of Dkeir described how the economic pressures caused by land loss forced many to leave their villages. “A farmer without land,what can he do? Some moved to the city to work in construction or temporary jobs, while others emigrated abroad in search of a better life. Today, our village is not the same. We lost the land, and we lost the people who depended on it.”