compensation – Syria Report

Posts

Military Judiciary Rejects Lawsuit Reclaiming House Seized by Regime Forces in Suweida

03-09-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

The military judiciary and the public prosecution in Suweida have rejected a lawsuit filed by the Farhat family against the leader of the pro-regime National Defence Force militia, seeking to reclaim their family home, which has been seized for the past 10 years, and to obtain compensation for the damages caused.

The house, located on the outskirts of the village of Waqm in western rural Suweida, is owned by Ziad Farhat. He lived there with his family until 2014 when Ziad was kidnapped by an armed gang from the Lajat area in rural Daraa. The family chose to leave the house and temporarily relocate from the village after suspecting that two villagers were involved in the kidnapping. A few days after the abduction, the gang negotiated with the family to pay a ransom for Ziad’s release. The family managed to gather around SYP 600,000 (approximately USD 4,000 at the exchange rate at the time) and handed the money over to the gang’s intermediary. However, the intermediary claimed that the kidnappers intercepted him and stole his car along with the money. The family decided to move to Ashrafiyet Sahnaya in Rural Damascus and filed a lawsuit against the two suspected of involvement in Ziad’s kidnapping. Since then, contact with the kidnappers has been lost, and no information about Ziad’s fate has been available to this day.

The house covers an area of 300 square metres and is surrounded by agricultural land of about one hectare, enclosed by a wall. The house building is licensed, and the land is located in a zoned area, with both having a title deed in the name of Ziad Farhat.

Three months after the family left their home, a military group affiliated with the National Defence Force (NDF) militia stormed the house, bringing along the village mayor as a witness to the event in front of the villagers. The militia seized the house without notifying the owners or seeking their permission and turned it into a military base, citing its strategic location as justification.

In early 2015, one of Ziad Farhat’s sons visited the leader of the NDF at his headquarters in the tourist hotel in Suweida city to object to the seizure of the house and request its return. The leader stated that the house’s location was ideal for protecting the area from militants and refused to vacate it until “the security situation in the area stabilises,” as he allegedly described it. The leader verbally promised to compensate for any damages to the house resulting from the military presence.

In 2017, the family learned that the NDF had handed over the house to a unit of the regime’s 15th Division, which operates in the western rural area of Suweida. Despite the relative stability that returned to the region following the reconciliation agreement with armed opposition factions in Daraa and Quneitra in mid-2018, the 15th Division did not vacate the house.

The family avoided visiting the village during this period, until mid-2024, when one of Ziad’s sons inspected the house and found it in a disastrous state, with members of the 15th Division still occupying it. The military personnel prevented the homeowner’s son from taking photos or documenting the damage. However, according to a correspondent for The Syria Report, the house had been looted, leaving no windows, doors, floor tiles, or bathroom ceramics. Even the internal electrical wiring had been removed, and all the furniture, along with the exterior marble, had disappeared. Most painfully, 150 mature olive trees surrounding the house had been uprooted. The officer in charge, a colonel, claimed that they had received the house in this condition from the NDF.

The correspondent said that someone had written in large letters on the house’s wall, “Guardians of the Homeland, peace be upon you,” a phrase clearly visible from afar. This phrase is taken from the Syrian national anthem and is used to describe the Syrian army and its supposed role in protecting the “homeland,” which means in Arabic both homes and the nation itself.

The family approached the military judiciary in Suweida to file a lawsuit against the leader of the NDF, holding him responsible for the house’s seizure and seeking to reclaim the property and compensation for the losses incurred. However, the military judge refused to register the case and advised the family’s lawyer to mediate between them and the NDF leader to resolve the matter amicably. The leader, however, claimed that the NDF was not responsible for the damages, as the house had been handed over to the army and the Ministry of Defence.

With this mediation attempt failing, the family renewed their request to file a lawsuit with the military judge. The judge stipulated that the family must accept the house in its current state before he would register the case. The family refused to take possession of the house as it was, arguing that the extensive damage made accepting it equivalent to waiving their right to compensation, according to the correspondent.

Afterward, the family went to the Palace of Justice in Suweida, making a new attempt to file a lawsuit against the leader of the NDF and to demand an investigation into the extortion of their home. However, the public prosecutor refused to sign off on accepting the lawsuit. It turned out that the public prosecutor is the brother of the NDF leader. The prosecutor claimed he would personally follow up on the case and promised to send a lawyer to the house to verify the complaint.

A few days later, the family received threats from the NDF, warning that family members would be arrested. As a result of similar pressure, the family’s lawyer felt compelled to withdraw from the case.

Faced with these complications and threats, the family became fearful of pursuing their rights through legal channels, knowing that their opponent is the leader of an armed militia and his brother is the public prosecutor. Consequently, the family recently turned to local elders and leaders in Suweida, seeking their mediation with the NDF to reach a solution that would allow them to reclaim their home and receive compensation for the damages incurred.

Scant Aid and No Alternative Housing in Jableh a Year After the Earthquake

03-09-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Despite numerous official announcements claiming that permanent or temporary prefabricated homes are nearing completion, and rumours about some of these homes being handed over, many of those affected by the February 6, 2023 earthquake in Jableh, in the Lattakia governorate, remain pessimistic about receiving their homes or even any monetary compensation.

The quake led to the collapse of more than 100 buildings in the coastal governorate of Lattakia, including several in the city of Jableh, particularly in the neighbourhoods of Al-Faydh, Al-Rumailah, and Al-Ghazalat, and in the rural areas of Jableh, including the village of Istamo.

According to the head of the Jableh City Council, quoted in an Athr Press article on March 9, 2023, 19 building blocks collapsed due to the earthquake, and safety committees found 10 severely damaged buildings that needed to be demolished. These buildings were later demolished by the city’s council teams.

In April 2023, the head of the UAE Red Crescent delegation confirmed that the UAE would build 1,000 prefabricated housing units for those affected by the earthquake in the Lattakia Governorate, across seven sites, three of which are in the city of Jableh, in the neighbourhoods of Al-Naqah, Al-Fuwar, and Al-Faydh.

In mid-May 2023, the Governor of Lattakia confirmed that preparations were underway to build two buildings in Jableh as part of government housing projects for those affected by the earthquake, each building comprising 10 floors. According to official media, two buildings are under construction in Jableh in the neighbourhoods of Al-Naqah and Al-Ghazalat, containing 80 apartments, each 100 square metres in size.

An engineer from the Jableh Municipality and a member of the public safety committees told The Syria Report that the alternative housing project is underway, but is suffering from severe delays due to “corruption.” The engineer declined to elaborate but indicated that these buildings, whether temporary or permanent, should have been handed over to the earthquake victims long ago. He added that progress is no more than 25 percent complete at some sites.

Aside from the alternative housing, a correspondent for The Syria Report in the area pointed out that many of those affected in Jableh have neither heard about nor received any form of financial compensation. This includes neither the tax exemptions granted to earthquake victims under Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2023, nor any support from the National Fund for Earthquake Victims, established under Legislative Decree No. 7 of 2023 to provide financial assistance to help them overcome the physical, material, or emotional damage they suffered.

Ali, a man in his fifties, refused to leave his building, which was severely damaged. In 2023, the public safety committee deemed the building at risk of collapse and was on the verge of evacuating the residents, sealing it with red wax, and issuing a demolition order. However, Ali, who had nowhere else to go, quickly bribed a committee member with SYP 3 million to avoid the demolition. The committee member advised Ali to carry out the repairs at his own expense and then submit the documents proving the repairs to the Jableh Municipality, along with signatures from engineers in the Lattakia Engineers Syndicate, to receive compensation. Ali repaired the house and repeatedly visited Jableh Municipality and Lattakia Governorate to obtain financial compensation for the repair costs, but to no avail.

Ali’s neighbour recently received a message from the Greek Orthodox Department of Ecumenical Relations and Development at the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, informing him that he would receive a one-time assistance of SYP 3 million. This assistance is provided to those affected who left their damaged homes or to cover minor repair costs. When Ali inquired with the Department of Ecumenical Relations, they told him that all those registered as affected at the municipality would receive this assistance, according to alphabetical lists of names drawn up by the Lattakia governorate. Ali, and many others interviewed by The Syria Report, are unaware of the connection between the Lattakia governorate and the Department of Ecumenical Relations in providing this financial aid to earthquake victims.

On the other hand, the official media continues to refer to a government financial support for the affected, through the “Cash” programme, which is intended to provide rent allowances to owners of collapsed properties, amounting to SYP 3.15 million, as a one-time payment. According to official statements, the budget allocated for this aid is SYP 68 billion. The source of these funds is unclear, but according to official media, they come from unnamed international and local organisations and are intended as rent allowances for those who chose not to move into temporary shelters.

But even this aid is not accessible to everyone. For example, despite repeatedly visiting the Jableh Municipality, Maha, a widow living in rural Jableh, has been unable to obtain any information from the staff that would help her secure financial compensation to repair her home, which sustained moderate damage during the earthquake. The public safety committee that inspected her house determined it needed repairs. Maha is in severe financial distress, responsible for a large family, and relies solely on a pension. She points out that some of her neighbours received rental allowances last winter from the Department of Ecumenical Relations, despite none of their homes having collapsed. When Maha approached the Department of Ecumenical Relations, they told her she needed to contact the Lattakia governorate to have her name added to the list of earthquake victims.

Umm Salam, an elderly woman, lost several family members when their home collapsed in the city of Jableh, and she has yet to receive any compensation. She turned to NGOs and she received some basic material and financial aid. An expatriate donated enough to cover her rent for six months. Umm Salam told The Syria Report’s correspondent that she had submitted all the necessary documents to both official bodies and NGOs after the earthquake. She keeps reminding the staff at Jableh municipality of her situation to ensure her name is on the list of affected individuals. To this day, Umm Salam does not know if she will receive alternative housing, whether temporary or permanent, or where it might be located.

Turkish Bombardment Damages Homes in AANES-held Areas

30-04-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

In 2023, Turkey continued to target areas controlled by the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) through airstrikes and artillery shelling, causing damage to homes and civilian areas and forcing residents to flee temporarily or permanently. Ankara accuses the AANES of being a front for the Democratic Union Party, the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey categorises as a terrorist organisation.

The Monitoring and Documentation Unit at North Press Media Agency reported that 711 residential and commercial sites and 21 agricultural sites in northeastern Syria were hit by Turkish shelling in 2023. The shelling focused on the towns of Darbasiyah, Qamishli, Malikiyah, Tell Tamer, Zarkan, Tell Abyad, Tell Rifaat, Manbij, Kobani, Ayn Issa and Qahtaniyah.

The Turkish shelling often targets security and military sites, checkpoints, and headquarters of service and administrative bodies affiliated with the AANES in the targeted areas. The shelling damages homes, workplaces, infrastructure and roads, and sometimes forces residents of some areas to temporarily flee for days, especially from the northern border strip towards southern towns and cities.

The years-long shelling campaign by Turkey has created a general atmosphere of fear, anxiety and insecurity, prompting many residents to consider fleeing from Syria altogether. This has led to a decrease in property prices in the targeted areas, following an increase in housing supply and a decrease in demand, human rights sources told The Syria Report.

Aside from the shelling, other factors related to the conflict with Turkey have contributed to the decline in property prices. For instance, in the city of Hassakeh, the repeated shutdowns of the Alouk water pumping station over the past five years have reduced the quantity of potable water reaching homes. This has been an additional factor encouraging residents to leave the city and move to areas with better water availability.

Conversely, the real estate market prices in the cities of Amuda and Qamishli in the Hassakeh governorate have risen due to increased demand following the mass displacement to these cities after the armed opposition took control of the cities of Tell Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn in 2019, during the Turkish military operation “Peace Spring.” At that time, most Kurds fled from these cities to the larger, predominantly Kurdish cities in the Hassakeh governorate, especially Amuda and Qamishli.

While the AANES focuses on documenting and securing funds for rehabilitating and repairing infrastructure damaged by the shelling, such as electricity and water stations and oil derivatives, it has not formed any committees to document damage to private properties.

The social contract of the AANES, which serves as its constitution, recognises private property as inviolable. However, owners of private homes cannot file complaints with municipal councils or seek judicial recourse for compensation over damages to their properties caused by Turkish shelling. The AANES does not consider itself responsible for compensating these property owners.

Owners of partially damaged private properties bear the costs of repairs, to the extent that their financial means and the donations they receive allow. Meanwhile, many private properties that have suffered significant destruction, including homes, factories, wedding halls and artisan workshops, remain unrestored.

In the city of Darbasiyah, two homes (one of them adjacent to a military facility belonging to the Asayish internal security forces) suffered significant damage after the facility was targeted by Turkish shelling on December 23, 2023. The homeowners estimated the cost of repairs at about USD 5,000 for each house. The homeowners told The Syria Report that they received no compensation from any official entity of the AANES, whether civilian or military.

Farhan, from a border village near the city of Qamishli, was sitting with his wife at home when their kitchen was hit by an artillery shell in 2023. The family repaired the kitchen at their own expense, but fearing further shelling, they sold the house and moved to live in areas farther from the border with Turkey.

A similar situation occurred with Wana, who lived with her husband in Tell Tamer and was forced to flee to Qamishli multiple times due to the ongoing shelling between the SDF and opposition factions controlling Ras Al-Ayn. In December 2023, Wana and her husband decided to move to Qamishli and rent a house there, despite their difficult financial situation and their inability to secure stable employment in Qamishli.

No Compensation for Owners of Razed Properties in Central Darayya District

05-03-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

In the summer of 2018, the former mayor of Darayya in the Rural Damascus governorate, Marwan Obeid, announced on his personal Facebook account the commencement of a park construction project over an area of two dunums (0.2 hectares) that used to house old homes. Subsequently, municipal workers cleared the remnants of these houses and removed the debris. Since then, no change has occurred at the site, and none of the former property owners have been compensated.

The area, known as the Shreidi Triangle, contained large, old “Arab-style” houses built from brick and roofed with wood. In the triangle were six homes belonging to four families from the city: Al-Halaq, Abu Bakr, Koshk, and Fattah. Surrounding the houses were more than ten shops facing the adjacent streets, all dilapidated with thick walls constructed in the old style.

These properties were expropriated in the 1970s to create a public park. The residents resisted the takeover by staying in their homes, refusing to evacuate, and not accepting compensation for expropriation. Until 2011, the situation of these houses remained unchanged, and the expropriation decision was not implemented. In reality, the houses remained standing, but their structural safety deteriorated due to the owners’ inability to obtain restoration permits because of the expropriation decision. The owners were also unable to conduct any real estate transactions on them. The only action they took was to rent out some rooms facing the main streets as commercial shops.

The city of Darayya witnessed peaceful opposition to the regime since the beginning of the 2011 uprising. Due to its proximity to Damascus and the Mezzeh military airport, Darayya was subjected to a severe siege by regime forces between 2012 and 2016, which ended with the forced displacement of its inhabitants after entire neighbourhoods were levelled to the ground due to aerial bombardment by regime forces.

Local sources told The Syria Report that the triangle remained relatively intact until the forced displacement of its residents. These sources indicated that the area was subjected to demolition and bulldozing by the regime forces controlling the city between 2016 and 2018 and that the Triangle area was destroyed when the regime forces allowed the first visit to the city in 2018.

In 2018, the Urban Planning Directorate at the Ministry of Public Works and Housing discussed four proposed urban plans within the city of Darayya’s zoning plan. That same year, the Executive Office in the Rural Damascus governorate announced that the zoning plan for the city of Darayya was ready. In both instances, no change occurred in the Shreidi Triangle area, which remained designated as a public park.

In August 2018, the Rural Damascus governorate permitted residents to return, provided they submitted documents proving property ownership within the city and obtained prior security clearance. The partial return began in mid-2019. Since then, the city’s Executive Office has continued to remove some buildings it declares are at risk of collapse, unfit for habitation, or pose a danger to passers-by and neighbouring residents.

Abu Mohammad, one of the homeowners in the Triangle area, told a correspondent for The Syria Report that he owned a spacious Arab-style house comprising five mud rooms, a large courtyard, and shops facing the street. He added that before 2011, he attempted to lift the expropriation order on his house but lost the lawsuit he filed. In the winter of 2013, a military force affiliated with the regime took over the Shreidi Triangle area as part of its ground incursion into Darayya and established military sites there. Abu Mohammad stated that he remained in his house, confirming that the Triangle area did not suffer significant damage, did not witness notable battles, and was not subjected to bombardment. In the summer of 2016, Abu Mohammad and his family were displaced following the forced displacement of all Darayya’s residents, leaving his house intact. Only in 2019 did Abu Mohammad learn that his house, along with all the homes in the Triangle area, had been bulldozed.

Abu Mahmoud, the owner of a shop in part of a traditional clay house in the Shreidi Triangle, told The Syria Report that his old shop collapsed in 2012 due to lack of maintenance and the vibrations caused by indirect bombing targeting nearby areas. Abu Mahmoud had to move his shop’s contents to an adjacent room that was not damaged. At the end of 2012, he left Darayya and only returned in 2019 to find that the adjacent room had also been bulldozed, and he could not find any of his shop’s contents.

Everyone interviewed by The Syria Report, including homeowners and shopkeepers in the Shreidi Triangle, mentioned that they had not received any compensation for the expropriation of their properties before 2011. Today, after some of them returned and discovered the entire area was bulldozed, and they have yet to receive any compensation, any notification about the execution of the expropriation, or any notice requiring them to contact any official authority. Thus, it’s as if they never owned anything in the area, and the park, which had yet to materialise, was more important than their homes.

SSG Demolishes Idlib Residential Buildings for Road Expansion

11-10-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

The Ministry of Local Administration and Services in the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) began a campaign in September to demolish properties and homes to widen the road connecting the city of Al-Dana to the town of Deir Hassan, in northern Idlib countryside. The demolition operations included both licensed and unlicensed buildings. The road expansion aims to alleviate the severe traffic congestion in the area, which is home to many camps for Syrian IDPs.

Those opposed to the road expansion say it has had negative impacts on shops and building owners, who have not received compensation. They believe it benefits some traders who purchased properties on either side of the road, anticipating their value to rise after the expansion. The road expansion is expected to attract investors interested in establishing shopping centres, restaurants and parks on both sides of the road, similar to the situation on the Bab Al-Hawa-Idlib highway.

Many buildings were constructed on both sides of the road after 2011, during the period when the area fell out of the regime’s control, and before the establishment of the opposition-run local councils in northern Idlib. Later, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra Front) would take control of the area in 2014.

One local homeowner told The Syria Report that he built his home in late 2011 on land he owns. However, he expanded his construction onto land earmarked for road expansion in the old zoning plan for the area. Last June, like other property owners, he received a notice from the Ministry of Local Administration and Services to vacate and demolish the parts of the building that were unlicensed. Then, in September, the ministry forced the owners of unlicensed buildings to demolish them themselves and remove the rubble at their own expense. Those owners received no compensation for their demolished properties. They also received no financial or logistical assistance in demolishing them, as they were built on public property without a licence, as the local homeowner said.

Notably, the ministry did not issue a decision to expropriate the targeted lands for road expansion and has no clear legal methodology for compensating the owners.

Saeed Al-Ashqar, an advisor to the SSG’s Minister of Local Administration and Services, told The Syria Report that the demolished buildings were mostly unlicensed and built within the road expansion zone. He refuted claims made by some owners of demolished unlicensed buildings that they received no compensation. He said that only three unlicensed buildings were completely demolished, and their owners were compensated, without specifying the amount or method. The owners of nine other partly-demolished unlicensed buildings were compensated.

Licensed buildings were demolished in agreement with their owners, and they received compensation from the SSG, according to Mr Al-Ashqar, who did not specify the compensation amount. Licensed buildings that were demolished date back to a time before the old zoning plan, which included road expansion. In contrast, licensed buildings set back from the road by a minimum distance and with a front setback were not demolished.

Mr Al-Ashqar further argued that the road serves over a quarter of a million people. The road’s expansion and rehabilitation are initiatives by the Ministry of Local Administration to stimulate trade and the economy in the area and address the traffic congestion. A new zoning plan for Al-Dana city was introduced at the beginning of 2022, including road expansion. Al-Ashqar said that the expansion will increase the road’s width to 24 metres over a distance of 1,750 metres, and the area will be serviced with the necessary infrastructure, including electricity, water, and sewage networks.