forced_migration – Syria Report

Posts

The Ansari Al-Gharbi Informal Settlement in Aleppo

02-04-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Unlike most of Aleppo’s informal settlements, which are located in the city’s eastern neighbourhoods, the Ansari Al-Gharbi slum is situated in the southwest of the city, connecting to its eastern neighbourhoods in Al-Karroum area to the south. This informal settlement also links what was formerly known as the Ansari village with the neighbourhoods of SalahEddin, Seif Al-Dawla, and Al-Zabdiyah in Aleppo.

Regime forces used Ansari Al-Gharbi as a gathering area for eastern Aleppo inhabitants before their forced displacement at the beginning of 2016. In this article, urban expert Dr Main Kafa details the history of this area and its most prominent features.

Originally, most of the informal settlement’s lands were private agricultural properties where construction was prohibited, except for two properties covering about six percent of the entire area. One property belongs to the Ministry of Awqaf (endowments) and the other to the Aleppo municipality, used as a landfill.

In the early 1970s, some construction contractors started buying land in the area and subdividing it into plots for unauthorised construction. The contractors planned and zoned the area, carving out streets 6-8 metres wide in some parts and narrower in others. By 1973, the built-up area in Ansari Al-Gharbi covered 6.7 hectares, and by 1980, it reached around 35 hectares, according to a Ph.D. thesis by Salwa Sakal from the University of Paris VII in 1984.

The contractors built multi-storey buildings, some reaching up to seven floors, each containing multiple apartments ranging from 60-150 square metres. Few buildings consisted of only one or two storeys. The neighbourhood’s inhabitants are a mix of people from different regions, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, mostly from the rural areas of Aleppo, Raqqa and Idlib.

In 2006, the Aleppo City Council tasked the Engineering Unit at the Faculty of Architecture in Aleppo University to conduct an updated study of the area to address what it described as “collective residential violations” through the implementation of the Building Violations Law No. 1 of 2003, which was in force at the time. The latest Building Violations Law No. 40 of 2012 repealed Building Violations Law No. 59 of 2008, which in turn had repealed Law No. 1 of 2003.

The study, completed in 2009, found that the area covered about 134 hectares, inhabited by approximately 54,000 people, resulting in a high population density of 403 individuals per hectare. According to the study, 10 percent of the inhabitants are renters under lease agreements, most of which are not registered with the municipality to evade taxes. Meanwhile, 90 percent of the inhabitants own their homes, the majority of which are apartments in unlicensed buildings.

Most of the ownership documents held by residents are purchase contracts, irrevocable powers of attorney, financial records, lawsuit notices, water and electricity bills, occupancy statements, or a copy of the Provisional land Register and property registration statement. The possession of official documents by some residents, such as those issued by the Provisional land Register or a property registration statement, suggests that some buildings, especially those extending from the SalahEddin neighbourhood, are licensed constructions, albeit with building violations related to the number of floors.

The study proposed widening streets to a width of 12 metres on one side, merging smaller plots, securing services, and demolishing unlicensed buildings in various locations to ensure sunlight and ventilation in the planning of residential complexes and neighbourhoods. It also suggested unifying the building code system in the area by adopting a five-floor limit for each building and demolishing additional floors, along with implementing three setbacks at a distance of six metres each, (a setback is the required separation between a lot line and a building).

The study was not ratified until 2013, due to delays in bureaucratic procedures and interventions by security agencies. Conflicts of interest among some officials, who purchased properties in the area intending to benefit from them after learning about the study’s content and proposed solutions, also contributed to the delay in ratification.

Before the ratification of the study, in 2012, Ansari Al-Gharbi fell under the control of armed opposition forces. This led the regime forces to bombard it causing widespread destruction, significant human losses, and waves of displacement. With the Russian military intervention in 2015, the area was subjected to intense aerial bombardment until 2016, culminating in a ceasefire agreement and the forced displacement of all inhabitants, including those from Ansari Al-Gharbi.

In mid-2017, the regime forces’ checkpoints surrounding the area allowed some displaced individuals to return to Ansari Al-Gharbi, while the local municipality used bulldozers to open up some streets and remove rubble. Overall, it is estimated that the war and the bulldozing operations in Ansari Al-Gharbi resulted in the destruction of about 40 percent of the total housing stock.

In 2019, the Ansari Services Directorate, affiliated with the Aleppo City Council, launched a cleaning campaign in the neighbourhood in cooperation with the Central Services Directorate and the neighbourhood’s residents’ committee. This campaign covered the main streets and their side alleys. The residents’ committee was formed in accordance with Local Administration Law No. 107 of 2011, led by the mukhtar and members selected by the Executive Office from the neighbourhood’s permanent residents.

In 2019, new unauthorised constructions appeared in the neighbourhood after government officials and officers from the security and military forces controlling the area seized homes, buildings, and lands owned by those who were forcibly displaced or had fled. These individuals, without permits, built additional floors on these seized properties, expanded constructions at the expense of neighbouring spaces, or dug and constructed underground floors. They also took over lands that had buildings demolished by the city council as being structurally unsound, where contractors then erected new unauthorised buildings.

The earthquake on February 6, 2023 resulted in the collapse of many structurally unsound and damaged buildings in the slum, due to the indirect damage from previous bombardments by regime forces and their allies. In September 2023, the Aleppo Governorate issued the third table listing the names of those affected whose residential and commercial buildings and properties were demolished due to the earthquake in the Ansari area. According to the table, the number of demolished plots in Ansari Al-Gharbi totaled 1,081. A plot refers to a piece of land on which a building consisting of one or several floors is erected. The damage to these plots was total, rendering the buildings uninhabitable.

The governorate issued these tables based on the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 3 of 2023 and its implementing instructions, which relate to granting special exemptions and a package of facilities to those affected by the earthquake. This was in accordance with the minutes of the committee formed by the decision of the Minister of Local Administration and Environment No. 554 dated March 20, 2023, chaired by the Governor of Aleppo and ratified by the Minister of Local Administration and Environment.

Regime Cuts Down Olive Trees on Displaced Farmers’ Lands in Idlib

16-01-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Regime forces have cut down swathes of olive trees in the countryside of Kafr Nubl, south of Idlib, since retaking control of the area in 2018. These orchards are located in Halaya and Baqia, south of Kafr Nubl, and are privately owned by absentees who were forcibly displaced to opposition-controlled areas in northwest Syria.

The wood of the olive trees is sold as firewood for heating. This explains why fig trees have remained intact, as their wood yields less heat during burning. Leaked videos on social media indicate that these farms – previously densely planted with olive trees – have become barren.

The demand for firewood is high in areas controlled by the Damascus government due to the high fuel price and delays in distributing subsidised fuel. Each family is entitled to receive 200 litres of heating diesel annually at the subsidised SYP 2,000 per litre. However, in reality, only 50 litres are distributed to each family. The free-market price of diesel at gas stations is SYP 13,000 per litre.

Many people in areas under the control of the Damascus government resort to cutting forests and orchards instead. Over time, the cutting process has evolved, often carried out by specialised groups, usually armed and supported by the de facto military and security forces. The current market price for a ton of firewood is SYP 3 million (around USD 200).

The lands that have been subjected to cutting in Kafr Nubl are privately owned by the city’s residents, most of which are registered in the local Department of Cadastral Affairs and have official ownership documents known locally as “green tabu”. Most of these landowners are among those forcibly displaced to opposition-controlled areas in northwest Syria. Among them is Mohammad Al-Bayoush, who confirmed to a correspondent for The Syria Report that 50 olive trees on his land were cut down, the youngest of which was 15 years old.

Mahmoud, another displaced person, said there were 40 olive trees on his land in Kafr Nubl, all of which were cut down. He said he recognised them in one leaked video from the now barren area.

According to The Syria Report’s local correspondent, the practice of cutting olive trees for firewood has also widely spread in areas controlled by regime forces in the southern and eastern countrysides of Idlib, such as Kafr Sajna, Hbit, Khan Sheikhoun, and Maaret Al-Numan.

These cutting operations are reportedly systematic and carried out by specialised work crews, dividing the region and working within specific sectors. The cutting began along the front lines with the opposition, under the pretext of clearing the area and preventing opposition fighters from hiding and infiltrating among the olive trees, but gradually spread to include most of the Idlib countryside under regime control.

The cutting of olive trees is overseen by the Russian-backed 25th Special Mission Forces Division, led by Major General Suhail Al-Hassan, known as “The Tiger.” This Division monitors the process from cutting to sale, with the work being carried out by crews led by contractors associated with the Division. According to the correspondent, the 25th Division helps these crews obtain wood trading licences granted by the Forestry Directorates in Idlib Province, which, in turn, are under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform. These licences allow the holder to store and trade non-manufactured forest wood, that is, they sell it without drying it while transporting timber between provinces requires another licence granted by the Forestry Directorates to warehouse owners and firewood shops.

The Ministry of Agriculture stopped issuing wood transport licences at the beginning of July 2023. However, this does not apply to traders supported by the de facto military and security forces. The Ministry of Agriculture has also requested all its provincial directorates to strictly enforce Law No. 39 of 2023 concerning forests and forest lands and to strengthen penalties to deter violators and protect forest areas.

The contractors associated with the leadership of the 25th Division pay in advance for the wood. The quantity of wood is estimated based on the number of trees in the targeted area. The checkpoints of the 25th Division are spread along area roads, and the trucks carrying wood are monitored, ensuring that contractors do not exceed the allowed quantities. This suggests the existence of a special economic office for the 25th Division, similar to the economic office of the Fourth Division.

The contractors enter paid employment contracts with woodcutters and grant them security privileges. These, most notably, reconciliation cards allow for the postponement of military service and free passage through military and security checkpoints. Often, contractors prefer to employ fighters from the 25th Division as woodcutters. The contractors advertise job opportunities in woodcutting on social media platforms. The worker receives a fixed monthly salary of SYP 150,000 and a daily wage of up to SYP 75,000, with the contractor covering the costs of transportation and meals.

Woodcutting and timber processing operations are carried out using gasoline-powered mechanical saws. The timber is transported in batches via medium-sized trucks to firewood sales centres in nearby cities such as Hama, Masyaf and Lattakia. These centres are often licensed, but they conceal the source of the timber.

Regime Forces Shell Farmland in Idlib

19-12-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Syrian regime forces continue to target farmers working in their fields near the front lines with opposition forces in the Idlib governorate. Over the past two months, regime attacks with shells, guided missiles and armoured drones have killed several farmers and have temporarily displaced farmers from the area, preventing them from harvesting their winter crops.

On November 30, a group of regime soldiers stationed in the town of Joreen in western Hama targeted an agricultural vehicle parked on the Qarqour-Frikeh road in the Ghab Plain in the west part of the Idlib governorate. The vehicle owners sowed their land with winter crops such as wheat, barley and legumes. The shelling destroyed the vehicle and left the farmers afraid to work on the land and its surroundings for fear of repeated shelling.

The towns of Qarqour and Frikeh are among the areas controlled by the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) extremist Islamic group. It has become customary for regime forces stationed in the Joreen camp of the Sixth Division, at this time of year, to shell opposition-held agricultural areas near the front lines in Al-Ghab to remind farmers of the need to pay a kind of mandatory tax to allow them to continue working.

The shelling this season seems different, according to a local correspondent for The Syria Report, who said that the recent bombardment is part of a more organised campaign adopted by the regime forces targeting civilians in opposition areas.

Ahmed Yazigi, a member of the Syrian Civil Defence (White Helmets) executive board, told The Syria Report that from the beginning of 2023 until November 27, they had counted 18 missile attacks on agricultural areas under opposition control in northwestern Syria. These lands are the sole source of livelihood for their owners, hindering their right to benefit from them.

On November 28, a regime attack injured a father and two sons, with one of the sons having his arm amputated. At the moment of the attack, they were in their vehicle parked on their land between the towns of Kateyan and Zardana in eastern Idlib. After the frightened farmers, taking their wounded with them, took refuge in a nearby poultry farm, they were again subjected to shelling with a Cornet missile with a range of up to 8 kilometres, launched by regime forces stationed in a military base on a hill in the town of Kafr Aleppo in western Aleppo, where Iranian forces are also present.

This followed the shelling on November 16 of a bulldozer working on raising an earthen barrier to protect travellers on the Afs-Taftanaz road in eastern Idlib, which the regime forces have been shelling.

Mohammed Al-Qadi, a civilian from the village of Fouqfeen in southern Idlib, explained to The Syria Report the state of panic experienced by the town’s residents following a shelling that killed ten farmers from a single family, including children, while they were harvesting olives on November 25. Despite the olive picking season nearing its end, farmers have been unable to work in their fields since then, fearing they might be targeted again.

Notably, regime forces used advanced Russian Krasnopol (KM-1M Krasnopol-M2) artillery shells, which can be laser-guided or directed via drones, on the private farm in Fouqfeen.

Opposition sources confirmed to The Syria Report that the shelling coincided with the flight of Russian-made Orlan-10 drones. The shells were launched from a military site in the town of Shourlin in the Jebel Shashabo area south of Idlib, controlled by the 25th Special Mission Forces led by Brigadier General Suhail Al-Hassan, also known as “The Tiger,” who is backed by Russia. The sources confirmed that the site is about 10 kilometres from Fouqfeen and often witnesses the presence of Russian forces.

Mr Al-Qadi said that the farm was hit within the Idlib de-escalation zone and less than a kilometre away from the Turkish military point stationed on a hill in the town of Fouqfeen. The presence of this Turkish military point had previously helped reassure displaced residents of the town and residents of some neighbouring towns to return. Most of these residents are families working collectively in agriculture on their lands. The recent shelling caused a mass displacement from the exposed area vulnerable to shelling by regime forces.