AbdulHamid, aged 55, owns a three-story property in the Hajira area of Babila, south of Damascus. The building is licensed in a zoned area, and AbdulHamid holds an official ownership deed. However, he had to leave Hajira at the end of 2012 and return to his hometown in Jabal Al-Zawiya in Idlib due to fear of armed clashes as regime forces advanced towards Hajira.

In 2013, regime forces took control of Hajira, and since then, AbdulHamid has been unable to return and check on his property. Recently, he heard from an old neighbour that an officer from a pro-regime militia had seized his property in 2014. AbdulHamid fears he will not be able to obtain security approval if he wants to authorise someone with a power of attorney to sell his house on his behalf. He is also concerned that the officer who seized his property might take illegal steps to register the property in his name.

Many Idlib residents, like AbdulHamid, have lost access to their properties in Damascus and its countryside due to the disruption of free and direct movement between opposition and regime-controlled areas in northwestern Syria. This lack of access to their properties has encouraged regime loyalists to seize some of them.

Like many Syrians, some Idlib residents who studied and worked in Damascus and its countryside and stayed there, living and buying homes and properties. This includes public sector and government institution employees, as well as military and security personnel, traders, businessmen, and freelancers. In some informal settlements in Damascus, there are entire neighbourhoods populated by Idlib residents, most notably Al-Hafez Street in the informal Tishreen neighbourhood, primarily inhabited by Idlib migrants who were police officers and personnels.

After 2011, some of these residents returned to Idlib, fearing arbitrary arrests and the detention of people from rebellious governorates at checkpoints. A significant number of police officers from Idlib defected and helped form opposition factions in Damascus and its countryside, fighting against regime forces. Over time, as Idlib became the main stronghold of the Syrian opposition, the people of Idlib began to suffer from discrimination in regime areas. Gradually, many Idlib residents preferred to return and leave their properties and homes in Damascus and its countryside.

Ahmad, aged 46, owns a flat on the first floor of a licensed building in the zoned area of the town of Aqraba in the Damascus countryside. He was forced to flee and leave his flat at the end of 2012 to escape the nearby battles. Ahmad told The Syria Report that he left everything in his home as it was, hoping for a swift return. However, 11 years have passed since then, and his hope for a quick return has faded as he settled in his hometown of Binnish, eastern Idlib. Ahmad says he has no idea about the current condition of his flat, whether it is occupied or destroyed. He adds that he no longer has any means of obtaining information about his property.

Movement between regime and opposition-controlled areas remained possible until 2018 through the Morek crossing in the northern Hama countryside, but it was limited to a small segment of Idlib residents who were not wanted by security forces. The military campaign by regime forces against the opposition in northwestern Syria between 2018-2020 not only established the current borders between the opposition and regime areas but also reduced the direct transport between the two regions.

Idlib residents who remained in opposition-controlled areas in Damascus and its countryside were forced to leave during the forced displacement campaigns that accompanied the regime’s gradual recapture of those areas until 2018. Sharif, aged 38, from the city of Taftanaz in the Idlib countryside, had a flat in a licensed building in the zoned area of central Douma in the Damascus countryside. He stayed there until 2018 when regime forces seized it and forcibly displaced those who refused reconciliation to Idlib. Sharif says his flat was partially burned by a shell during the last battles. He could not take his belongings, but he still keeps the official deed of his property ownership, although he has lost hope of returning.

Idlib residents who fled from Damascus and its countryside have found themselves almost trapped in Idlib, unable to return to inspect their properties. Just a few days ago, the Abu Al-Zindeen crossing in Aleppo countryside was opened but only for commercial movement between the two areas. In practice, to this day, there is no direct route connecting the two areas that would allow the movement of people. Therefore, those wishing to return to regime areas have to travel from opposition areas to areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Manbij, and from there to regime areas in Aleppo. These travel difficulties, costs, and the risks of arbitrary and random detentions for bribe payments have always limited the return movement.