Assad regime's property rights violations complicate return of displaced Syrians

By Ethem Emre Ozcan and Burak Karacaoglu

ANKARA (AA) - The Bashar al-Assad regime’s practice of leasing out crop fields in Hama and Idlib through so-called auctions without the consent of displaced landowners is "illegal and unacceptable" and hinders the voluntary return of Syrian refugees, according to experts.

Millions of Syrians have been displaced during the civil war due to violent attacks on opposition-controlled areas by Assad regime forces and Iranian-backed militia groups with the support of Russia.

An Assad regime law required that all citizens submit their property ownership claims in person within a month, otherwise unclaimed properties could be confiscated.

The regime started to implement the practice in rural areas of Idlib and Hama.

Using regime security forces and Baath Party executives, committees have been transferring the use of the lands identified since June 2020 to regime supporters through “auctions.”

Property owners’ requests to transfer the use of the properties to people they want or give power of attorney are mainly rejected.

In a recent report, the Syrian Network for Human Rights underlined that the regime aims to seize 570,000 acres of lands in the suburbs of Idlib and Hama through three separate public auctions.

“The Syrian regime tries to steal land and property through procedures that appear to be legal, such as through auctions, but in reality they further violate the rights of the forcibly displaced, which are guaranteed by international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” said Fadel Abdul Ghany, the group’s director.

Abdul Ghany said that the regime resorted to this practice to reap additional revenue, while it wants to reward Shabiha militias and Assad supporters while punishing his opponents.

He said that it is impossible for them to consider returning refugees in these circumstances, adding that the regime does not want displaced Syrians or refugees to return either.

- Assad moves discourage refugees from returning

Ayman Al Dassouky, a researcher at Istanbul-based Omran Center for Strategic Studies, said: “These laws passed by the regime are contrary to the articles of its own Constitution.”

Al Dassouky said that the regime’s call to displaced civilians to return and the exclusionary and vengeful steps it has taken on the ground do not match.

“It seems that the regime only allows the return of those who don’t oppose it,” he said, adding that it wants to create a demographic structure that supports it and doesn’t pose a threat to its future existence.

According to the UNHCR refugee agency, during the decade-plus civil war, 6.6 million Syrians had to leave the country, which before 2011 had a population of around 22-23 million.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad argued that the doors are open to those who want to return to Syria, and that the regime’s repentance laws facilitated this.

Many international organizations and non-governmental organizations, particularly the UN and EU, call for the Assad regime to provide the necessary conditions for the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of Syrians, but the regime's violation of many rights, particularly in return attempts from Lebanon, was reflected in the reports.

The Assad regime announced that hundreds of people from camps in Lebanon had returned to Syria on Oct. 26 and Nov. 5, but gave no details about their situation.

Türkiye hosts some 4 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world, and has pushed for their safe, voluntary, and dignified return.