rubble – Syria Report

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Private Properties Converted to Rubble Dumps in Darayya

19-11-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

In recent months, the debris from homes destroyed in previous combat operations in Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, have been relocated to designated sites within the city. Some of these sites previously housed residential buildings destroyed during the war between 2012 and 2016, while others were agricultural lands. In both cases, property owners were not consulted before their lands were repurposed as debris dumps.

Darayya witnessed peaceful opposition to the regime at the start of 2011 before falling under the control of armed opposition forces in 2012. The city endured a severe siege and intense shelling by regime forces, culminating in 2016 with the forced displacement of its entire population and widespread destruction. Subsequently, the Fourth Division, which controls the city, allowed limited returns under strict prior security approvals.

One of the primary areas converted into a debris dump is the Khalij area, adjacent to the Mazzeh military airport. Debris from neighbouring districts has been relocated here. The area suffered extensive destruction during the battles in Darayya. Khalij, an informal settlement northeast of Darayya, became a defensive line for regime forces in 2012, resulting in the demolition of all its structures. The city’s zoning plan, issued by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in April 2018, considered the Khalij area empty and designated it as an empty land near the airport.

Photos shared by Darayya residents in a private Facebook group show trucks unloading debris in the Khalij area. Another photo depicts other trucks near large debris piles. Hussein, a resident, told The Syria Report that he was aware his home in Khalij had been destroyed during the conflict, and expressed despair over losing the chance to access his home’s ruins, as the entire area has become a major debris collection site.

Khalij has become a central debris dump, but private properties within the city, particularly unused lands in residential clusters, have also been repurposed. For instance, Widad’s family owns agricultural land west of the city’s “Construction Societies” area near the railway. Widad said that her family land is now a dump for debris collected from nearby buildings. The Construction Society site comprises licensed multi-storey buildings in a zoned area that suffered only minor damage during the war, allowing partial return of Internally Displaced People (IDP)Ps and refugees after renovations and the obtention of security approvals.

Similarly, Abu Ahmad, who owns agricultural land north of the city entrance, complained about his property being used as a dump without his consent. He noted that a private company is dumping debris extracted from the city on his and neighbouring lands.

Some debris removal operations in Darayya are managed by Noor Obeid Company, owned by Mohammed Sawan, a resident of the neighbouring city of Moadamiyeh known for his close ties with leaders of the Fourth Division controlling the area. The company’s board chairman, Mohammad Khair Al-Halabi, stated in a televised interview on the state-run Al-Mahaliya channel on July 31, that his company plays an active role in reconstruction by demolishing unsafe buildings and removing debris as part of a “solidarity initiative to support the local community,” approved by the Rural Damascus Governorate Council. Mr Halabi highlighted coordination with the Public Safety Committee of the Rural Damascus governorate but did not clarify whether the company had formal permissions for demolition and debris removal. He mentioned the company’s use of heavy machinery such as bulldozers, demolition equipment, and trucks.

The company focuses on moving debris to areas surrounding the city and other sites inside it, The Syria Report’s correspondent noted. However, during the summer of 2024, it also demolished some buildings in the Construction Societies under the pretext of structural unsafety. Local residents argued these buildings were only partially damaged and could have been repaired, but they were not structurally unsound. Amid difficulties in verifying accurate information, rumours have spread that the company targets structurally intact homes owned by absentee residents to extract and recycle iron from the debris.

Residents’ concerns prompted Rural Damascus Governor Ahmad Ibrahim Khalil to reassure them during a meeting with Darayya community leaders at the end of September. He stated that no damaged building would be demolished without inspection by a committee formed by the governorate and the Engineers Syndicate, to assess its condition and ensure it cannot be restored.

Removing Earthquake Debris From Jandares

30-07-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Since the earthquake of February 6, 2023, the Syria Civil Defence teams, known as the “White Helmets,” have removed debris from 34 residential areas that were completely destroyed in Jandares, a city in the Afrin region of north-west of Aleppo, which is under the control of the opposition’s Syrian Interim Government (SIG). To date, the teams have cleared approximately 370,000 cubic metres of debris from the city, relying on funding from international donors, non-governmental organisations, and donations.

Jandares was almost entirely destroyed by the earthquake, resulting in the deaths of around 800 people due to the complete collapse of nearly 278 buildings and the partial collapse of more than 1,100 buildings. Despite a year and a half having passed since the earthquake, the process of demolishing damaged buildings that are at risk of collapse is still ongoing.

According to The Syria Report’s correspondent, the removal of building debris has occurred in two phases. The first phase involved buildings that collapsed completely during the earthquake and were removed using heavy equipment from the Civil Defence. The exact number of housing units removed during this phase is unknown due to their destruction and the intermingling of debris, as most of the collapsed buildings were multi-storey with multiple residences. In the first days following the earthquake, property owners manually retrieved some of their belongings. Subsequently, security forces cordoned off debris sites to document found items. During the debris removal, initial sorting took place on-site, and some intact personal belongings were extracted. Security forces requested property owners to provide documents proving their ownership of the demolished properties or witness testimonies confirming their residence at the collapsed buildings before the earthquake. After that, they had to provide a detailed description of their belongings. During the debris removal, security forces recorded the found items and handed them over to the owners at the police station, after verifying their ownership, in the presence of representatives from the Jandares local council.

Regarding the debris, some property owners submitted requests to the Jandares local council to move the debris from their homes, at their own expense, to private land they own elsewhere, to reuse it for building new homes or preparing the land for tent installation. The Jandares council required owners of completely collapsed buildings and their tenants to submit requests to remove their building debris by March 10, 2023. The council then began the removal process, for both registered and unregistered debris, in collaboration with civil defence, to locations near the Afrin River and surrounding some public roads for expansion purposes. The removal process was supervised by the security forces, along with the civilian police, to ensure the ownership of the debris and document the removal process.

The second phase followed the demolition of damaged buildings that were at risk of collapse or posed a danger to their inhabitants. These demolitions were carried out based on reports from the Public Safety Committee and the local council. Heavy machinery was used in non-hazardous areas after securing the surroundings, while manual equipment was used for buildings whose demolition might damage neighbouring structures. Manual demolition can take several months.

In both phases, the initial sorting of debris takes place on-site, where iron and metals are extracted. This sorting is supervised by the local council and the property owners. The remaining solid debris and concrete blocks are then transported to designated locations, where civil defence teams crush them using specialised equipment. The crushed material is turned into gravel, which can be reused for pre-foundation layers of roads in camps and residential areas, according to needs.

The Jandares local council shares the proceeds from the extracted rebar equally with the property owner if they are present. If no owner is known, the local council keeps all the proceeds. In both cases, the local council organises public auctions to sell the iron. The price of extracted iron has reached around USD 250 per ton. The local council’s share of the proceeds is used as revenue for the earthquake damage removal fund, which finances employee salaries and supports the work of engineering and technical committees dealing with the earthquake aftermath.

Property Fraud and Poor Services in the Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp

09-07-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

Recent reports of increased property fraud in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus have prompted many displaced property owners to temporarily return, inspect their properties, and implement some protective measures such as installing doors and windows for houses and securing locks for shops. These individuals are required to obtain temporary security clearance to visit the camp.

Activists from the camp, including lawyer NourEddin Salman, have issued repeated warnings on social media in recent months about widespread property fraud occurring in the camp. These fraudulent activities have resulted in a surge of illicit property sales, with an increasing number of homes being sold illegally. A gang is reportedly selling many shares in undivided common properties in the area between Loubieh Street and the Yarmouk Girls’ School and has allegedly amassed around SYP 2 billion through this fraudulent and deceitful scheme, according to activists. Mr Salman advised anyone looking to purchase property in the camp to first inquire with neighbours about the seller and the property, verify ownership documents, ensure the validity of the sales contract, and obtain a current description of the property’s condition and boundaries from a court-appointed expert engineer.

Wafaa, a displaced resident of the camp now living in Damascus, learned from one of her former neighbours that a few individuals recently inspected her uninhabited house on Al-Urubah Street in the camp with the intent to buy it, according to a correspondent for The Syria Report. When Wafaa’s neighbour inquired, the individuals claimed they were there to view the house, which they said was for sale by its owner. After a discussion, the neighbour identified the person who falsely claimed ownership of Wafaa’s house and was trying to sell it. Based on this information, Wafaa filed a complaint with the Yarmouk Camp police station, which managed to detain the alleged seller who claimed ownership of her house. However, according to Wafaa, this individual was able to bribe the police officers, who then wrote in their report that the incident was a mistake rather than fraud, stating that the seller had mistakenly identified the house due to changes in the area’s landmarks caused by destruction.

Nizar, a Syrian Palestinian refugee from Yarmouk Camp currently residing in Sweden, told The Syria Report that he learned through friends still living in the camp that unknown individuals are renovating a house that belonged to Nizar’s grandfather. The house, located on Thalatheen Street, is partially damaged due to the fighting. Nizar confirmed that he has a court ruling proving his late grandfather’s ownership of the property. He added that his grandfather died in 2010, and then his father was killed in a bombing on the camp at the beginning of 2015, and consequently, the 105-square-metre house became the property of 21 heirs, including Nizar.

He noted that complications prevented them from completing the inheritance process, including the war, the siege of the camp, and the disruption of official institutions. Additionally, none of the heirs remains in Syria except for his uncle, who is disabled and unable to manage his affairs. Two of the heirs are missing, and their whereabouts are unknown.

The inheritance inventory document is the primary document used to determine the names of the deceased’s heirs, their relationship to the deceased, and their respective shares of the inheritance. This document can only be issued after the death of the testator, the registration of their death in the civil registry, and the issuance of a death certificate and a family record for the heirs. After this, the relevant court can be approached to obtain the inheritance certificate. The court then appoints an expert to identify the heirs and their shares of the estate.

Nizar pointed out that those renovating his grandfather’s property have a court-certified purchase contract for the house. He is unsure how someone without ownership was able to sell it to them. He plans to appoint a lawyer to challenge the validity of the sale contract in court.

According to The Syria Report’s correspondent, one of the common practices in the camp currently involves seizing adjacent properties or parts of them during the renovation of a specific property. This is done by encroaching on portions of neighbouring properties, exploiting the destruction and the loss of landmarks. According to activists in the camp, it appears that an influential person has usurped land next to the vegetable market on Palestine Street, which belongs to the General Authority of Palestinian Arab Refugees. The land previously contained buildings and homes that were destroyed, leaving only rubble, allowing the influential person to seize the land and build on it.

The correspondent reported that a real estate office employee in the camp mentioned that some fraud attempts were thwarted after news about them spread on social media. He added that with the increasing number of returnees to the camp, it is rare to find a neighbourhood without at least one inhabited house, which now serves as an early warning network for property owners in the same area, who often share relationships or kinship.

According to estimates by the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria in early June, approximately 50,000 people have returned to the Yarmouk Camp. Despite the concerted efforts by the returnees to improve the camp’s service conditions, they face many difficulties and challenges. For instance, the camp remains isolated from neighbouring areas, with only one entry and exit point via the Batikha roundabout in the Zahira neighbourhood.

Most areas of the camp still suffer from significant problems, such as some streets around the Yarmouk Camp cemetery and the entrance to the Zain neighbourhood (administratively part of Yalda) being flooded with sewage water from damaged and decayed pipes. Potholes abound on Safad Street, making it difficult for vehicles to pass, which hinders the return of displaced residents to the area. The lack of drinking water in many neighbourhoods and the absence of electricity limit stability in some regions. Residents of School Street have requested an electricity supply, but to no avail. Even Haifa Avenue, opposite the building of the Public Establishment for Transmission and Distribution of Electricity (PETDE), remains without electrical coverage. Residents resort to installing electric cables at their own expense in areas without electricity, but these either get stolen or removed by the PETDE, citing network infringement.

Rubble presents a major issue across most of the camp, still densely scattered in the Wasim Project, the Moroccan neighbourhoods, Safad Street, Kafr Qasim Street, and others. This problem is exacerbated by returnees clearing debris from their homes and neighbourhoods, often dumping it around the houses or transporting it to the PETDE’s land area on Thalatheen Street.

Meanwhile, the camp municipality has begun allowing owners of completely destroyed houses to remove the debris and manage it. Typically, these owners make agreements with building contractors to remove the rubble for free in exchange for the contractors taking the iron and metals from the debris to sell to metal traders.

Darayya Building Demolished as Part of Film Project

21-05-2024/in HLP, News /by Rand Shamaa

In the spring of 2023, a building in Darayya in Rural Damascus, was rigged with explosives and demolished during the filming of scenes for an artistic project directed by Syrian film director Najdat Ismail Anzour. The building, which had five floors, was built in 2010 and was permitted within the city’s zoning plans. It was situated in the zoned and licensed residential area of Al-Jamiat Al-Insha’iya, near the Al-Samah bin Malik Al-Khaulani Mosque.

Mr Anzour, who was also a member of the Syrian parliament representing Aleppo governorate from 2016 to 2020, served as acting speaker of the parliament for a period in 2017. He has contributed to presenting the Syrian regime’s narrative through a large collection of films and dramas.

Darayya witnessed peaceful anti-regime protests starting in early 2011. In 2012, the city fell under the control of armed opposition forces. Due to its proximity to the Mazzeh military airport, Darayya was subjected to a severe siege by regime forces and intense bombing campaigns, which culminated in 2016 with the forced displacement of all its residents and the destruction of large parts of the city. Subsequently, the Fourth Armoured Division, which controls the city, allowed partial and conditional return of residents with prior security approval.

Although the opposition had seized the Al-Jamiat Al-Insha’iya area during their control of Darayya, the area remained largely intact. This was partly due to its distance from the front lines and its modern architectural design, built according to Syrian Arab Building Code and safety standards. Despite not being destroyed, all the residences in this area now require rehabilitation and removal of rubble due to neglect, limited clashes, and looting following the regime forces’ recapture of the city.

A correspondent for The Syria Report stated that the building was hit by a mortar shell early in the regime’s military campaign, causing minor damage to its facade. Apart from that, the building sustained no significant damage during the war, according to testimonies from former fighters who were stationed in the area. However, aerial images from Google Maps now show a gap in the area where the building once stood, indicating the rubble from the building that was demolished by Mr Anzour.

According to the correspondent, the production and public relations managers for the film submitted images of the Al-Jamiat Al-Insha’iya area to Rural Damascus governorate, showing existing damage to obtain permission to use the area as a filming location. During the filming, the five-storey building was blown up and reduced to rubble. The Syria Report’s correspondent could not confirm if the demolition was authorised by the governorate or which military entity carried it out.

Mahmoud, a displaced person now living in rural Idlib, owned an apartment in the building. He bought it at the end of 2010 for nearly SYP 1 million (around USD 20,000 at the time) and has a notarised sale contract. Mahmoud could not transfer the apartment ownership to his name in the Land Record due to the outbreak of the 2011 uprising, Darayya falling out of regime control, and the subsequent disruption of official institutions.

In 2020, Mahmoud tried to sell his apartment, but the offers he received were not encouraging. He decided to wait, hoping to renovate the apartment and sell it at a better price. However, the complete destruction of the building in 2023, which Mahmoud heard about from relatives still in Darayya, dashed his hopes.

Mr Anzour previously filmed scenes for his series “Under the Sky of the Homeland” in areas near the front lines in Darayya in the spring of 2013 while the opposition controlled it. In 2019, he also filmed scenes for his short film “Jouri” in Darayya’s destroyed and deserted neighbourhoods.

During the filming of his series “Moons in a Dark Night” in 2021, the crew chose locations in the cities of Kafr Zita and Al-Lataminah in northern Hama, and Khan Sheikhoun in southern Idlib, as filming sites. They enlisted the help of forces from the 25th Special Mission Forces Division, led by Brigadier General Suheil Al-Hassan, nicknamed “The Tiger.” During the filming of the series, live ammunition was used to shell homes that had been empty since 2019 due to the forced displacement of their inhabitants.

However, the first time Mr Anzour resorted to demolishing an intact multi-storey building for filming scenes was in the spring of 2023, when the building in the Al-Jamiat Al-Insha’iya area of Darayya was blown up. The Syria Report’s correspondent was unable to determine the name of the film or series that included scenes of the building’s demolition. Mr Anzour’s most recent work was the film “The Broken Cross,” which was released in cinemas in August 2023 and is a documentary about the displacement of Christians from Idlib by the Turkistan Islamic Party.

According to testimonies obtained by The Syria Report, none of the apartment owners or the original owner of the building received any compensation for its demolition. The original owner of the demolished building managed to extract some of the iron from the rubble and sold it to a local building materials trader. At the end of 2023, the original building owner distributed symbolic amounts of money to some of the apartment owners, with some receiving up to SYP 1.5 million (approximately USD 115).

Demolitions and Looting Continue in Rural Damascus’ Al-Hajar Al-Aswad

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

The reasons for the ongoing demolition of properties in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, administratively a part of the Rural Damascus governorate, are unclear to its returning residents. While the municipality continues to demolish buildings classified as dangerous and at risk of collapse, work crews belonging to regime forces are illegally continuing their demolition process to loot, recycle rubble and extract iron. Demolition and looting operations in the city have not ceased since the regime forces took control of it in mid-2018.

Al-Hajar Al-Aswad is a city and district centre adjacent to Damascus’s Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. Before 2011, it was home to about half a million people, including the largest number of people displaced from the Golan Heights since the June 1967 war with Israel. A large part of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad consists of informal, unserviced settlements, and it has been a destination for low-income migrants from other Syrian provinces.

The city suffered severe destruction due to combat during the opposition’s control between 2012-2015 and during the period of Islamic State control between 2015-2018. Regime forces regained control in 2018 after a widespread aerial and artillery bombardment campaign that destroyed entire neighbourhoods in the city and forcibly displaced its remaining inhabitants.

At the end of 2021, the Rural Damascus governorate allowed the conditional return of residents to some neighbourhoods of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad that were judged to be habitable, particularly the Tishreen and Al-Thawra neighbourhoods. However, the governorate did not allow displaced people to return to the Al-Wahda and Al-Istiqlal neighbourhoods until early 2023 and prevented returns to Al-Jazeera and Al-Alaf neighbourhoods.

Demolition operations for buildings classified as dangerous and at risk of collapse are focused in the Al-Jazeera and Al-Alaf neighbourhoods and the city’s outskirts near Al-Qadam, a district in Damascus city.

The Public Safety Committee of the Rural Damascus governorate oversees part of the demolition operations. Over the past two years, the committee conducted a technical study of the structural condition of buildings in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, identifying those that are dangerous and at risk of collapse and need to be removed. The latest of these studies took place in the Al-Jazeera neighbourhood in May 2023. Following this study, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad municipality requested homeowners in the neighbourhood to consult with them within 15 days to learn the study results and understand the status of their properties, whether they need removal, reinforcement or repair.

The Syria Report’s correspondent in the area stated that the study conducted by the Public Safety Committee in Al-Jazeera was not accurate and comprehensive for all the buildings there. While some property owners received reports on the structural condition of their properties after consulting with the municipality, others discovered that their buildings were not included in the study despite being located in the neighbourhood. Municipal employees informed the visitors that the study did not cover all the buildings in the Al-Jazeera neighbourhood. They advised some residents to inspect their own homes, marking them with a clear red sign if they were structurally sound, to prevent the municipality from demolishing them. The Syria Report’s correspondent confirmed that the municipality did not provide these visitors with any practical tools or theoretical guides to help them assess the structural safety of their buildings.

Contrary to the municipality’s demolition work, working crews affiliated with regime forces continue demolishing buildings without any licence or approval and with the sole aim of looting the rubble. In September 2023, a three-story building in the Al-Jazeera neighbourhood collapsed during looting by a work crew affiliated with the regime’s Fourth Division, the elite force led by Maher Al-Assad. The local police and security detachment covered up the incident. This followed an incident in November 2022, when seven people were killed due to the collapse of a four-storey building in Al-Jazeera while they were trying to extract iron from the pillars and ceilings of the damaged building.

The correspondent also reported that some families not residing in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad prefer to sell their homes, even at low prices, fearing their demolition by the municipality or looting crews. This is encouraged because the area is informal, and most buildings do not have official property documents. In addition, during the war, many lost ownership documents of their buildings, which are mostly common properties.

Maram, a widow with three children, told The Syria Report that she offered her house in the Al-Jazeera neighbourhood for sale for SYP 20 million (around USD 1,400) because she cannot return home. She added that the lack of services and security in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad make the idea of returning very uncomfortable for her. She also mentioned that she would not wait for the possibility of returning to the Al-Jazeera neighbourhood, as she might risk losing her home to demolition by looting crews.

Imad, another former resident, told The Syria Report that he used to check on his house in the Tishreen neighbourhood whenever he had the chance. However, during his last visit in December 2023, he found that the stairs and the rooftop of his house had been demolished by looting crews, who had extracted the iron rebar. Imad also noticed that his neighbour’s house and three other nearby houses had been demolished and the iron removed from them. Imad suspects that his house will soon be demolished as the looting crews work systematically, focusing on sections of the neighbourhood until they complete the demolition and looting of the neighbourhood. These crews often start by demolishing the staircases to prevent the owners from returning, then gradually demolishing the rest of the building.

Some of those affected by the looting had filed a complaint with the mayor of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Khaled Khamees, between August and October 2023 to stop the looting of their homes. Mr Khamees informed those affected at the time that he could not do anything to protect their properties or stand up against the looting crews. He referred them to the police and security forces to file a complaint. The mayor denied any involvement of his municipality in demolishing habitable houses or their looting. Those affected filed a report with the city police station and the security detachment at the beginning of Thalatheen Street but to no avail.

Mr Khamees told the semi-official Al-Watan newspaper on January 9 that 2,100 families had returned to the city, most of them to Al-Thawra neighbourhood and, to a lesser extent, to the Tishreen, Al-Wahda, and Al-Istiqlal neighbourhoods. The Syria Report’s correspondent mentioned that local community sources estimate the number of families that have returned to Al-Hajar Al-Aswad since 2018 to be around 1,300 families, approximately 6,500 people, and added that the services, scarce as they are, are concentrated in Al-Thawra neighbourhood, while the rest of the neighbourhoods are neglected.

Removal of Rubble of Damaged Buildings

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

This law determines the removal and sale of debris from damaged buildings in Syria, and governs the process for identifying, removing, and selling debris from zones identified by the Governor.

Law No. 3 of 2018
The removal of the rubble of buildings subject to laws requiring their demolition

The President of the Republic
In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution,
Promulgates the following:

Article 1
The following expressions and words, wherever they appear in this law, have the following meanings:

Private Possessions: All moveable wealth that can be owned, used, utilized, exploited, or dealt with, like chattel, furniture, or other things.
Rubble: The debris of demolished buildings, including materials internal or exterior to the building, and what cannot be properly regarded as Private Possessions or no longer has an owner.
Damaged Buildings: Buildings demolished because of natural or unnatural factors, or because they are subject to laws in effect that require their demolition, whether this is an entire real estate area, a [single] property, or a division.
Administrative Unit: The Administrative Unit is defined by the law of local administration issued in Administrative Decree No. 107 of 2011, and in the administrative boundaries in which the damaged building falls.
Document of Ownership: The document on which the Description Committee relies, and which establishes ownership, as a valid reference to prove ownership of Private Possessions and Rubble.

Article 2

The governor, based on the recommendation of the Administrative Unit, is to issue a decision in which the area of real estate and Damaged Buildings that fall under the provisions of this law are defined. This decision includes the amount of time within which the Administrative Unit must prepare a detailed report on the state of this area, which shall be no longer than 120 days.
The decision is to be published in the official gazette, and it is to be announced in one of the newspapers of the capital and in the local press – if this exists – and it is to be announced on the bulletin board of the Administrative Unit and the courtyard of the province and the directorate of the area for 15 days. The announcement can also be circulated through visual and audio media, and through social media.
It is incumbent upon the owners of real estate in the real estate area, Private Possessions, and Rubble, and upon their legal representatives, their relatives up to the fourth degree, and everyone with an interest [in these], to present to the relevant administrative body – within thirty days of the date of the announcement – a request in which they describe their place of residence, with attached documents, evidence supporting their claims, or pictures of these in the case that they do not exist, and to note in their request the sites, boundaries, shares, and legal type of real estate and Private Possessions, or the rights that they claim.

Article 3

The Administrative Unit, within 120 days of the issuance of the decision of the governor described in paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this law, is to prepare, and bring to the executive office of the province, a detailed report containing:
The size and degree of damage, expected expenditures, and necessary preparations to remove the Rubble of Damaged Buildings – including public and private properties – that fall under the provisions of this law.
The value of the Rubble that is expected to be collected.
A plan that provides pictures of the Damaged Buildings, the names of the real estate areas that include them, and the names of the owners of the Damaged Buildings and Private Possessions.
It is incumbent upon the executive office in the Administrative Unit to come to a mutual agreement with one of the public or private bodies, per the system of lease of public bodies, to prepare the report indicated in Paragraph 1 above.

Article 4

The governor, within thirty days from the date of depositing the report of the Administrative Unit mentioned in Article 3, is to issue a decision forming a committee, the mission of which is to describe the Damaged Buildings, demonstrating their ownership, and the ownership of Private Possessions and Rubble, made up of:

A real estate judge named by the Minister of Justice: President
The President of the Department of Surveying in the relevant Directorate of Real Estate, who is to be notified: Member
A representative of the Administrative Unit of the first branch, named by its president: Member
An expert in real estate valuation named by the governor: Member
A representative of the first branch of the Directorate of Real Estate, or the equivalent: Member
Two representatives of the people, chosen according to the provisions of Paragraph 4 of this Article: Two members

This decision is to be published per the procedures indicated in Paragraph 2 of Article 2 of this law.
The meetings of the legal committee are to take place in the presence of the president and three members. Its decisions are to be taken by consensus or majority, and in the case of deadlock, it defers to the president of the committee.
With the publication of an announcement in one of the newspapers, and on the bulletin board of the administrative body, an invitation is to be sent to the owners of the Damaged Buildings and Private Possessions, and those with rights in the real estate area defined by the Administrative Unit, to elect their representatives. The election will be valid with a majority of votes of those who answered the invitation. In the invitation the place and time of the election is defined, and if the invitation is not answered, then the president of the civilian basic court will be responsible for appointing the two representatives of the owners mentioned above.
It is incumbent upon the president of the committee, and the appointed members with the exception of the representatives of the people, to not have any kinship or marriage relation to the fourth degree, or any connection or legal or financial interest, with those with rights.
The committee is to gather at the invitation of the president, who at the first meeting must determine the validity of its formation. The members are to swear before him the following oath:

“I swear to God that I will perform my duty with trust and fidelity, and will not disclose the secrets of its minutes.”

Article 5

The Committee of Description and Demonstration of Ownership performs the following tasks:
Stripping, collecting, and describing the Damaged Buildings, and demonstrating preliminarily the ownership of the property through architectural plans and a list of owners organised by the relevant Directorate of Real Estate Interests, documents, official papers, notices of payment of electricity and water supply, statements of financial agencies, the testimony of neighbours, based on a first-hand examination conducted by the committee on the condition [of the property], and a list that includes the name of the real estate region, the number of the property, the name of the owner, the boundaries of the property and neighbouring properties, the condition of the building, the estimate of the damage and its percent, and whether or not the building is sound from a structural perspective, as well as the recommendations that extend from this having to do with complete, partial, non-demolition.
Attaching an up-to-date satellite image of the property before its demolition.
Preserving the plans and paper evidence, documents, and images on which the committee relied in completing its tasks in the paper and electronic archive, to be referred to whenever necessary, and entrusting it to the Administrative Unit as soon as the committee completes it work.
Filling out a list of the names of the owners within 120 days, and conveying it to the administrative side. This schedule must include the name of the real estate area, the numbers of the properties, the names of the owners of Private Possessions, Rubble, or a share of each, and other necessary information.
Within 15 days of the date of depositing the list in its archive, the administrative body is to announce it per the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 2 of this law.

Article 6

Those with the rights noted in Paragraph 3 of Article 2 of this law have the right to contest matters pertaining to the list within 30 days from the date following the publication of this list in the official gazette before the civilian appeals court in the province in which the headquarters of the real estate area falls.
The appeals court is to decide on the challenge in the conference room with a signed decision within thirty days of the recording of the challenge in its registry.
The list is considered, after the passage of the period defined for the challenge, with its contents, or deciding the challenges advanced, and taking them definitively, and there is no impact of what appeared in this list upon the individual real-state rights recorded in the real estate record and those records of real estate property which are equivalent to it.
Appeals relating to the ownership of the property do not halt the process of sale by auction conducted by the Administrative Unit per the provisions of the system of lease to public bodies in effect.

Article 7
The Administrative Unit, immediately upon the end of the period of announcement defined in Paragraph 2 of Article 5 of this law, is to decide the date of the auction of Rubble, and that which is under its authority per the provisions of Paragraph 3 of Article 11 of this law, per the books of technical conditions prepared to this end by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in coordination with the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment.

Article 8
The Administrative Unit, within 30 days of the date of the end of the period of challenge stipulated in Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of this law, is to accept requests from those whose names appear in the final list of owners, or their legal representatives, to take Rubble and Private Possessions.

Article 9

The Administrative Unit is to organise the procedures for the entrance and departure of those with a relationship to the buildings included in the provisions of this law, and the Private Possessions that are being taken are to be documented in a record that notes the name of the individual, their chosen title, the number of the area of their property, his descriptors, and the type of possessions, verified by the president of its committee, and this is to be indicated in the field of notes in the final list of owners organised by the Committee of Description and Demonstration of Ownership.
The Administrative Unit is to preserve the papers and evidence in a paper and electronic archive.

Article 10

The procedures for taking Rubble and Private Possessions by their owners are to terminate within 30 days of the date on which the period for accepting requests ends, as defined in Article 8 of this law.
Pursuant to the provisions of Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 14 of the Property Law issued in Legislative Decree No. 20 of 1983, its amendments, and the provisions of Article 11 of this law, those with rights who are unable to take their possessions or Rubble, or who do not prove their ownership, have the right to financial compensation provided by auction per the provisions of Paragraph 3 of 11 of this law, in the case that they demonstrate ownership.

Article 11

The Administrative Unit can include disputed buildings with public property as defined in the provisions of this law, can demolish the buildings threatened with collapse after thirty days of the date of the publication of the list prepared by the Committee of Description and Determining Ownership, and can demolish and remove the Rubble present in private property at the end of the period defined in Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this law.
The Administrative Unit is to preserve the Private Possessions that it regards as being of large material value in a private depository as consignment, and is to return these to their owners after they present requests to regain them and prove their ownership of them within one Christian calendar year from the period of 30 days defined in Paragraph 1 above, which applies to the matter of these properties per Paragraph 3 of this article.
The Rubble, that which falls under that designation, and those public and private properties that the Administrative Unit removes and disposes of, is to be sold in an auction per the procedures stipulated in the system of leasing of public bodies.
The value of the property transfer is entrusted in the name of the Administrative Unit to one of the public banks. As for those with merit whose ownership has been proven per the provisions of this law, each unit of the area that they own is to be frozen for their account, taking into consideration the neglect of the names of the owners who dealt with their Rubble per Article 9 of this law. All these rights are converted to financial compensation.
The costs of the expenditures of the work of removal and disposal of Rubble conducted by the Administrative Unit are withdrawn from the capital entrusted per the provisions of Paragraph 4 above.

Article 12
Pursuant to the provisions stipulated in the system of lease of public bodies in effect for the Administrative Unit, if the compensation of the auction does not reach the expected value per the provisions of Clause b of Paragraph 1 of Article 3 of this law, it is to dispose of Rubble according to what it deems appropriate. To that end, it is to remove the Rubble, displace it, and directly recycle it or contract with one of the public or private companies licensed by the provisions of the system for leasing of public bodies in effect, in accordance with the book of technical conditions prepared by the Minister of Public Works and Housing in coordination with the Minister of Local Administration and the Environment to this end, and in accordance with the provisions of this law.

Article 13
The Minister of Local Administration and the Environment is to publish the executive instructions of this law.

Article 14
This law is to be published in the official gazette.
Damascus, on 26/5/1439 Hijri, 25/1/2018 Gregorian

President of the Republic
Bashar Al-Assad