security_approval – Syria Report

On October 15, pro-regime media reported that 800 displaced families had returned to Maaret Al-Numan, located in the rural Idlib governorate. A ceremony was reportedly held for their return, attended by state and Baath Party officials. But when the ceremony ended, most returning families left the destroyed city, according to a correspondent for The Syria Report in the area, as extensive damage to homes and infrastructure has rendered Maaret Al-Numan uninhabitable.

Maaret Al-Numan is located in the southern part of Idlib and is the governorate’s second-largest city after its eponymous capital. Opposition forces held the city from 2012-2020. During this time, some residents moved to live in regime-held areas in the nearby coastal governorates and Hama. Then in 2020, the regime waged a military campaign on the southern part of Idlib governorate, regaining control over several major cities such as Saraqeb and Maaret Al-Numan. The campaign caused all remaining residents of Maaret Al-Numan to flee north to displacement camps in opposition-held territory.

Since then, the pro-Russia 25th Special Mission Forces Division has controlled the emptied-out city, running it as a military zone because of its proximity to lines of contact with rebel forces in the southern Idlib governorate. The division has barred displaced Maaret Al-Numan residents from returning home to the city, even those living in regime-controlled areas of Syria. As in other areas of rural southern Idlib, work crews contracted by the regime forces have looted homes in Maaret Al-Numan, extracting whatever materials they could recycle, such as iron roofing.

According to The Syria Report’s correspondent, the Idlib governorate had transported displaced Maaret Al-Numan residents who gathered in Al-Assi Square in the city of Hama to their home city to participate in the return ceremony on October 15. Most of the families included Baath Party members and army personnel.

The Idlib governor and Idlib’s Baath Party branch leader participated in the ceremony, which was meant to open what they called a “reception centre for citizens returning to the city of Maaret Al-Numan.” They said the centre was opened to ease the return of the city’s displaced residents. A Syria Report correspondent reported that one of the centre’s tasks is to grant returnees security approvals after settling their security and military conscription statuses.

The governor said those wishing to return and live in the city could visit the reception centre and apply for return. He added that the centre will collect data on those people before approving them return. This data, he said, is necessary to secure essential services for returnees.

During the ceremony on October 15, the governorate utilised heavy machinery to remove rubble and clear public roads under the supervision of the 25th Special Mission Forces Division. However, according to The Syria Report’s correspondent, the day’s rubble removal was merely propaganda to shoot a promotional video and halted immediately afterwards.

A large-scale return of residents to Maaret Al-Numan does not yet appear possible amid the sheer destruction to the city, including to its water, sewage and electrical networks, as well as the remaining rubble and other debris.

On October 19, a government delegation visited the city. The group included the Minister of Local Administration and Environment and the Minister of Public Works and Housing. Official media reported that the delegation viewed the city’s situation and oversaw the restoration of essential services, rubble removal and repair of damaged roads. The delegation reportedly also identified and estimated the scope of the damages and determined the city’s most urgent needs to facilitate the return of displaced residents to their homes.

According to official statements, electricity will likely not return to the city before the end of 2022. Schools must also undergo repairs before reopening. The water network needs testing to find any defects, as facilities were damaged and shut down for long periods due to the fighting.

During the delegation’s visit to Maaret Al-Numan, the governor of Idlib stated that he had sent a memorandum to the council of ministers that included a study on requirements for restoring services such as electricity, water and healthcare to the city. The governor added that the services will be restored once the necessary funding is allocated.

Officials from Baath Party and Idlib governorate held a meeting on October 9 in Hama alongside Maaret Al-Numan private economic actors, to encourage the latter to participate in efforts to restore the city’s infrastructure and public facilities. Afterwards, the “Committee to Facilitate the Return of Maaret Al-Numan Residents,” formed by the Idlib branch of the Baath Party, worked to collect donations of supplies and money to encourage displaced residents of the city to return home. For example, one businessperson donated a heater for each family that wishes to return to Maaret Al-Numan, while another gave SYP 1 million per family. Another person promised to remove rubble from local homes should the owners return.

On September 20, the State Security Department’s General Intelligence sent the mukhtar of Al-Dekhaniyeh, a town in the Rural Damascus governorate, a list of names of 70 displaced residents. Although the issuance of the list suggests that the intelligence agency had no objection to their return, it does not necessarily mean that returns will occur anytime soon.

According to a correspondent for The Syria Report, the town’s mukhtar requested that those whose names appeared on the list visit his office to submit applications for return. He informed the returnees to bring their ID cards and documents proving property ownership in the town and electricity, water and phone bills. Real estate contracts not formally listed within the Land Registry or with the courts would not be accepted.

On September 29, a group representing the displaced residents of Al-Dekhaniyeh met with the governor of Rural Damascus and the town’s mukhtar, demanding that the governor expedite their return process. They also offered to help remove rubble and other rehabilitation work in the town. The governor promised to start the return process by the end of October, affirming that rehabilitation work on the town’s infrastructure would also begin soon.

The correspondent reported the governor of Rural Damascus saying that since 2018, around 400 families have submitted return requests to the governorate and that those requests were assigned numbers. He added that anyone with a return request whose name did not appear on the list should submit a request to the State Security Department in Kafr Sousseh, Damascus, to obtain security approval. An estimated 5,000 people lived in the town before 2011.

The correspondent added that some 600 families have yet to submit any requests to the governorate for returning to Al-Dekhaniyeh. According to the governor, these families must submit their requests to the governorate, obtain numbers, and then visit the State Security Department in Kafr Sousseh.

Al-Dekhaniyeh belongs to the Al-Kisweh district in Rural Damascus, adjacent to the city of Jaramana. It is close to the city centre of Damascus, located just 1.50 kilometres from the capital’s historic Bab Sharqi area. Al-Dekhaniyeh’s zoning plans are old and categorise much of the land within its boundaries as agricultural, where construction is prohibited. Nevertheless, like many other parts of Rural Damascus surrounding the capital city, Al-Dekhaniyeh has witnessed a boom in informally built housing since the 1970s due to the rising demand for cheap accommodation.

The town is also an important industrial centre, home to many warehouses belonging to Damascus merchants. There are also car repair workshops, iron workshops, and textile factories. Located in Al-Dekhaniyeh are factories for the General Company for Manufacturing Nylon Threads and Stockings, the General Company for Paints, Chemical Industries Omayad Paints, and more.

Opposition forces launched an attack on the town in 2014. The rebels managed to take control of most of the town at the time. However, regime forces recaptured it after a month of fierce battles that saw so-called “elephant missiles” wreak widespread damage to infrastructure and private property. Afterwards, Al-Dekhaniyeh became a closed military zone, with regime forces bulldozing many homes in the northern neighbourhood and using the rubble to build berms separating the town from nearby Ain Terma during the time opposition forces controlled it. Work teams contracted by the regime looted homes belonging to displaced residents, withdrawing iron from the roofs and water and plumbing pipes.

Al-Dekhaniyeh has been empty of its residents since 2014, with regime forces still not permitting them to return. Most of the displaced now live in nearby neighbourhoods of Damascus, such as Al-Dweilaeh, Kashkoul and Al-Kabbas, and the Rural Damascus city of Jaramana. Many fear that the security services view them as sympathetic to the opposition and that they helped opposition forces enter the town’s northern neighbourhoods in 2014, preventing them from being approved to return home. According to The Syria Report’s correspondent, most residents permitted to return via the State Security list are from the town’s southern neighbourhoods. Until now, entry to the town is prohibited. An Air Force Intelligence checkpoint in Al-Kabbas and a State Security checkpoint in Al-Dweilaeh prevent anyone from entering.

Meanwhile, the Damascus governorate has transformed the northeastern part of Al-Dekhaniyeh into a waste dump for the capital’s eastern neighbourhoods. According to the correspondent, the piles of garbage are now several storeys high and have overtaken some real estate in the area.

In February 2018, the president of the Jaramana City Council told local media that Al-Dekhaniyeh would be annexed into the city’s zoning expansion plan. He added that the process would include removing rubble and dilapidated buildings, providing services, and distributing certain rights to their holders.

Finally, in early 2021, the head of Rural Damascus’ Directorate for Decision and Regional Planning Support told local media that a detailed zoning plan was underway for Al-Dekhaniyeh.

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