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Residential Building Collapses in Kurdish-controlled Aleppo Neighbourhood

31-01-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

In the early morning on January 22, a building collapsed in east Aleppo’s Al-Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood, killing 18 residents. Though the building was newly constructed, it was not properly licensed and lacked structural integrity. 

Al-Sheikh Maqsoud and neighbouring Ashrafieh are under the military control of the majority-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). The People’s Municipality, a part of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES), provides public services to the two neighbourhoods. The rest of Aleppo city is controlled by regime forces and allied militias. It receives public services from the government’s Aleppo City Council, which operates under the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment. 

Regime military checkpoints surround the YPG-held areas in Al-Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, sometimes enforcing full or partial sieges according to the state of relations between Damascus and AANES. For example, the past three months have seen the regime checkpoints prevent the entry of fuel, food supplies, baby formula and medicines into the two neighbourhoods due to an ongoing crisis between the two sides. 

However, the scope of last week’s building collapse prompted the People’s Municipality to seek assistance from the Aleppo City Council to search the rubble for victims and survivors, according to The Syria Report’s local correspondent. The council sent Civil Defence and firefighting teams with heavy machinery and ambulances. However, the People’s Municipality reportedly prevented some of them from entering the area without providing any reason. 

Rescue teams removed 18 bodies from the rubble and identified 16 of them. Three injured people were transferred to the Martyr Khaled Fajr Hospital in Al-Sheikh Maqsoud. According to our correspondent, the YPG prevented the Aleppo City Council medical teams from transferring the injured to hospitals in regime-held areas. 

Eyewitnesses told The Syria Report that the rescue operations abruptly halted without apparent reason at noontime January 23, before some victims remaining under the rubble could be reached. Residents said they believe at least two people are still trapped, and whether they are alive or dead is unknown. Immediately after the rescue work stopped, the YPG requested all Aleppo City Council assistance teams to leave its control area. 

The collapsed building was constructed in 2018 without a licence from any municipal authority, according to The Syria Report‘s correspondent. That means the building was relatively new and hadn’t been impacted by bombing, whether directly or indirectly. The lasting impacts of wartime bombings are the main reasons other buildings in east Aleppo have collapsed. 

According to eyewitnesses, the five-storey building in Al-Sheikh Maqsoud collapsed completely. It was made up mostly of concrete blocks without a reinforced structure, indicating weak columns, foundations and roofs. Seeking the highest possible profit margins, contractors working on unlicensed buildings often use only small quantities of cement and iron, putting the structural integrity at risk. 

The ground floor of the collapsed building also served as a car wash business. Last year, some columns on the ground floor were removed to expand the car wash and allow cars to drive through more easily. The facility had no system to drain the water from washing cars. 

The building’s owner is a construction contractor, Abu Aref, who was displaced from the rural Afrin area northwest of Aleppo. For some time, he held a position in the People’s Municipality in Al-Sheikh Maqsoud. He constructed the five-storey residential building without a licence, replacing an old house he had previously purchased and demolished. 

Abu Aref constructed other buildings in this same way in Al-Sheikh Maqsoud, and he is not the only contractor responsible for poorly executed, unlicensed construction. Such construction has become widespread in Al-Sheikh Maqsoud due to the growing demand for housing by Kurdish families displaced from Afrin since 2018. That year, Turkish forces and their affiliated Syrian opposition forces carried out a military campaign against the YPG in Afrin, and forcibly displaced many Kurdish residents, who sought safety in YPG-held territory. 

The demand for housing in Al-Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh is not limited to displaced Kurds but also people from surrounding regime-held Aleppo neighbourhoods. The YPG-held neighbourhoods are generally safer and enjoy a greater degree of freedom. Public services are better available, as well as food supplies, fuel and job opportunities. Rental prices have risen as a result, with the area becoming profitable for many construction contractors and merchants with ties to the YPG. 

https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png 0 0 Rand Shamaa https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png Rand Shamaa2023-01-31 19:50:072023-01-31 19:50:07Residential Building Collapses in Kurdish-controlled Aleppo Neighbourhood

AANES Occupies Absentee Properties for Free and via Forced Tenancy

17-01-2023/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Recent years have seen the majority-Kurdish Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) authorities seize many absentee-owned properties. When those absentees return home and demand their properties back, authorities have offered to lease them, without any compensation for the previous occupancy period. 

Seizure of absentees’ real estate is a form of property extortion without the owners’ consent or knowledge, and without any legal ownership title or legitimate reason to do so. 

Various entities within the AANES have taken possession of empty or absentee-owned real estate, including buildings, shops and homes. Most of the absentees are expatriates originally from the area whose properties have been seized by the AANES without their approval–sometimes without any notification. Many of these absentees were forced to return either permanently or temporarily, or appoint someone on their behalf, in order to sue the various AANES entities that had seized their properties. In most cases, they were able to reach a contractual agreement where the property-seizing entity would pay a monthly or annual rent. These contracts preserve the rights of the lessors and include terms on the time period for the lease, the eviction period and conditions to not modify the property. 

A correspondent for The Syria Report spoke with K. R., who appointed a lawyer via a power of attorney through the Syrian Embassy in Sweden to recover a property she owns in Qamishli that the AANES’ Union of Engineers took to use as their headquarters in 2018. When K. R. requested that the union vacate the property, they instead offered for her to rent it and even drew up a lease contract. The lawyer rejected this offer, explaining that his client feared losing her property after four years of occupancy without compensation. The union ended up vacating the property in late 2022 without paying any compensation to K. R. for the years it had occupied the space. 

However, the process isn’t always so simple. The Committee for Protecting Religions, which is affiliated with the AANES, occupied the home of Mr Al-Khatouni in the Al-Wasta neighbourhood of Qamishli without informing him. Mr Khatouni, who lives abroad, appointed his brother to recover the house. The committee agreed to vacate the property but requested a payment equal to the value of the improvements it had made to the home. Khatouni agreed to pay, but the committee returned and bargained over taking the water tanks and other equipment that they had installed, despite the fact that the payment included those items. When Mr Khatouni refused, the committee decided not to vacate the home and stayed on without paying rent. 

AANES courts do not hear civil real estate disputes for zoned areas until after the Department of Real Estate Complaints (part of the Categories Union) has heard and mediated such cases for reconciliation between the two sides. The Categories Union is an AANES organisation aimed at regulating market professions. Should efforts at mediation fail, then the Department of Real Estate Complaints sends a report to a court called the Justice Diwan to settle the dispute.

Meanwhile, the AANES’ Committee for Protecting Absentee Syriac and Assyrian Properties began a new policy in early 2022 to collect rental payments from AANES institutions that have occupied Christian-owned properties in the cities of Qamishli, Deirik and Al-Qahtaniyeh in the  Hassakeh governorate. In most cases, the committee negotiates with these AANES bodies without the authorisation or knowledge of the actual property owners. According to The Syria Report’s local correspondent, the committee takes a 35 percent cut of the occupants’ rental payments for itself, giving the remainder to the property owner. It is unclear what happens in cases where the property owner is deceased or has no heirs. 

The AANES formed the Committee for Protecting Absentee Syriac and Assyrian Properties in 2014 as a civil body to intervene before AANES courts in disputes involving absentee Christians. The committee considers complaints about extortion or occupation of absentees’ properties, as well as requests by tenants of these properties related to rental payments, vacancies and eviction. 

For example, the AANES’ Logistics Commission has occupied a building owned by A. Gh., an absentee, without payments since 2015. In October 2022, the Committee for Protecting Absentee Properties informed the Logistics Commission that it needed to either vacate the property or enter into a formal contract with payments calculated according to the property’s current market value. The two sides managed to reach an agreement and made a contract. However, A. Gh. had not appointed the committee to negotiate on his behalf or to lease out his property. In cases like this, any dispute or complaint from the original property owner about the contract must be directed to the committee, which drew up the lease agreement on their behalf. 

https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png 0 0 Rand Shamaa https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png Rand Shamaa2023-01-17 19:44:572023-01-24 18:51:10AANES Occupies Absentee Properties for Free and via Forced Tenancy

Land Ownership and Registration in Border Areas

18-07-2022/in HLP, Regulations /by Jihad YAZIGI

This law, which has been updated several times in the past years, regulates the ownership, transfer and registration of land in border areas.

Law No. 41 of 2004
Determination of Border Areas

The President of the Republic,
In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution,
Pursuant to what has been approved by the People’s Council in its session held on 04/09/1425 Hijri, 18/10/2004 Gregorian,
Promulgates the following:

Article 1
No in rem property rights may be established, transferred, modified, or acquired on land situated in a border area, nor may it be occupied by leasing, investment, or in any other way for a period exceeding three years for the name or benefit of a natural or legal person without prior authorisation.

Only the land located within the organisational schemes shall be exempted.

Article 2
The border areas shall be determined by a decree issued based upon the recommandation of the Ministry of Defence.

Article 3

1.    The authorisation stipulated in Article 1 of this Law shall be issued by a decision from the Minister of the Interior or his authorised representative, based upon the recommandation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform and the approval of the Ministry of Defence.

2.    Rejection by the Minister of the Interior of an authorisation shall be considered absolute and not subject to any form of review. However, the request may be resubmitted in the event that the reason the authorisation was prohibited has abated or that a year has passed from the date of the rejection.

Article 4

1.    Court proceedingsrelated to a request to confirm any of the rights stipulated in Article 1 of this Law shall not be registered nor marked in the registry if they are not accompanied by an authorisation. All cases outstanding upon the date that the provisions of this Law enter into force shall be rejected if the authorisation is not provided, taking into consideration the provisions of Article 31 of Decision No. 186 of the year 1926. Land falling within the organisational schemes shall be exempted from this.

2.    The decisions of real estate judges pertaining to the delimitation and liberalisation of land in border areas shall be implemented and recorded in the real estate records provided that upon registration they are marked with an indication that no title deed may be granted, any contract implemented, or any transaction performed until after obtaining authorisation. Land falling within the organisational schemes shall be exempted from this.

Article 5
Transactions for confiscation of ownership of land in border areas implemented by executive departments at the Ministry of Justice shall be subject to public auction for the aforementioned authorisation. In the event that the final bidder does not obtain this authorisation, the outright transfer shall be legally invalidated and the property shall be re-offered for sale in public auction. Land falling within organisational schemes shall be exempted from this.

Article 6
In the event that an application for authorisation is not submitted within three months of the date of the transfer of the right in rem for land in a border area or from the date of its occupation by lease or investment or by any means for a period exceeding three years, the occupancy shall be considered invalid. Land falling within organisational schemes shall be exempted from this.

1.    In the event that land in a border area is occupied by way of leasing or investment or by any means for a period not exceeding three years, the occupant of the aforementioned land must inform the concerned administrative authority for the location of this land within the time period specified in Article 6 of this Law. Land falling within organisational schemes shall be exempted from this.

2.    The acquisition of in rem property rights or occupancy rights by way of inheritance or transfer shall not apply to land in border areasunless the concerned administrative authorities stipulated in the previous paragraph are informed.

3.    Anyone who employs farmers, labourers, or experts in cases included in this Law must notify the concerned administrative authority about all matters pertaining to their employment in accordance with the procedures provided in the executive instructions.

Article 7

1.    In the event that land is occupied through leasing or investment or by any way for a period not exceeding three years, the one occupying the aforementioned property must inform the concerned administrative authority in the location of the property within the period specified for that in Article 6 of this Law.

2.    The acquisition of in rem property rights or occupancy rights by way of inheritance or transfer shall not apply to land in border areas unless the concerned administrative authorities stipulated in the previous paragraph are informed.

3.    Anyone who employs farmers, labourers, or experts in cases included in this Law must notify the concerned administrative authority about all matters pertaining to their employment in accordance with the procedures provided in the executive instructions.

Article 8

1.    Property departments and notaries public shall refrain from performing the transactions included in the provisions of this Law unless accompanied by prior licensing or a copy of the notification of the required concerned administrative authority as the case may be.

2.    All contracts, actions, and procedures carried out in violation of the provisions of this Law or carried out under a pseudonym with the aim of avoiding its provisions shall be considered void, as shall all sub-clauses intended to ensure their implementation.

3.    The public prosecutor must establish the necessary suits to void the contracts, actions, and procedures in violation of the provisions of this Law and follow up on the implementation of the rulings issued for that purpose.

Article 9

1.    A punishment of imprisonment for six months to two years and a fine of ten thousand (10,000) Syrian pounds to one hundred thousand (100,000) Syrian pounds shall be applied to anyone who violates the provisions of Article 1 or Paragraph 1 of Article 8 of this Law.

2.    A punishment of imprisonment from three months to a year and a fine of three thousand (3,000) Syrian pounds to ten thousand (10,000) Syrian pounds be applied to anyone who violates Paragraphs 1 or 3 of Article 7 of this Law. A fine of three thousand (3,000) pounds to ten thousand (10,000) pounds shall be applied to anyone who violates the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of this Law.

Article 10
The provisions of this Law shall not be applicable in the following instances:

1.    Transfer of in rem property rights or tenancy or investment rights to the benefit of public authorities.

2.    Transactions for categorisation or correction of descriptions.

3.    Transaction to establish, transfer, modify, or acquire any in rem property right or occupation by way of leasing or investment or by any method pertaining to parents and their children.

4.    Licensing procedures are being carried out in governorate centres as quickly as possible.

Article 11
The Minister of the Interior shall issue executive instructions for this Law.

Article 12
Legislative Decree No. 193 dated 03/04/1952 and Legislative Decree No. 75 dated 28/07/1962 shall be repealed.

Article 13
This Law shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Damascus, 13/09/1425 Hijri, 26/10/2004 Gregorian.

President of the Republic
Bashar al-Assad

https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png 0 0 Jihad YAZIGI https://hlp.syria-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Logo-300x81.png Jihad YAZIGI2022-07-18 22:10:542022-08-02 12:14:19Land Ownership and Registration in Border Areas

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