After its people were displaced, the Syrian regime sells the lands of the refugees

Northern Syria -

3 years ago, Abd al-Jalil Hamidi, in his fifties, was displaced from his home in Idlib countryside, northern Syria, after the regime forces advanced to the area, following the scorched earth policy. Since then, his house and agricultural land have been confiscated, and he has no way to return and invest his property.

Hamidi owns about 5 hectares of agricultural land located near the city of Maarat al-Numan in the countryside of Idlib, and it was his only source of livelihood, like all the people in the area, as agriculture is the main resource for the people of northern Syria.

He told Al-Jazeera Net that the government of the regime recently offered his land for investment in public auctions that included many of the lands of the displaced in the northwest of the country, stressing that he has all the documents proving his ownership of the land that he inherited from his father.

However, the man realizes that his return to his land and home under the auspices of the Syrian regime is considered a suicide, pointing out that in the eyes of the regime he is a "terrorist and supporter of terrorism" because of the participation of his sons in the popular movement and peaceful demonstrations, and their subsequent involvement in the opposition factions.

The displaced Syrian points out that he did not succeed in obtaining an official power of attorney for one of his relatives in the region to manage the affairs of the land, and trying to reveal her fate during these years, explaining that the matter requires security approval from the regime authorities in order to obtain the legal power of attorney.

Auctions or looting of the lands of the displaced?

Hamidi's land represents part of the thousands of hectares confiscated by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad since it regained control of large parts of the countryside of Idlib and Hama, and the displacement of its owners for fear of revenge, liquidation or arrest.

The area of ​​land that the regime recently announced to be offered in public auctions for investment within Idlib governorate is about 570,000 dunums, at a minimum, according to human rights reports that also indicated that these measures “mean the Syrian regime’s continuation in plundering more lands of the displaced and refugees, and trying to cover them up.” through the auction tactic.

They are out of sight

And at the end of last September, the Idlib governorate of the regime announced 3 public auctions, which included agricultural lands in the countryside of Idlib, within the areas of Khan Shaykhun, Maarat al-Numan and Saraqib, and offered them for investment in the agricultural season 2022-2023.

The advertisements bore the phrase "Auction at full speed" and stated that the spaces included in it are estimated and subject to increase and decrease, provided that they are delivered to investors on the ground according to official minutes organized by the competent committee.

It is noteworthy that the advertisements for public auctions for land investment did not mention the names of the real owners or specify their exact location, and the reference was limited to the names of regions and approximate areas.

According to the governor of Idlib, Thaer Salhab, "the lands that are offered for investment in auctions are the lands of the hidden from view who are in the north," referring to the displaced Syrians in opposition-held areas.

Salhab stipulated - in a statement to the loyal newspaper "Al-Watan" - the return of the displaced and the settlement of his status by the regime, in order to return the land that was given for investment, considering that these lands, at the present time, need someone to manage and cultivate them.

However, the director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, Fadl Abdel-Ghani, described the auctions and the regime's exploitation of the lands of the displaced and forcibly displaced as a process of theft and more like armed robbery carried out by gangs that possess military power.

Abdul-Ghani told Al-Jazeera Net that investment operations do not have any legal or legitimate cover, because the Syrian regime has displaced its owners and removed them from their lands and properties, which it invests and shares its money through committees.

The Syrian Network seeks to shed light on the processes of offering the lands of the displaced for investment - in public auctions - to nullify any future effects on the property of the displaced, and to delegitimize the regime's practices against the people, according to Abdul Ghani's statement.

Most of the tent residents cannot return to their homes and lands in Idlib countryside for fear of reprisals or arrest (Al-Jazeera)

war crime

With the beginning of the popular movement in March 2011, the Assad regime enacted and amended many laws and regulations in line with the new situation and due to the expansion of the protests in most cities and towns, especially the terrorism law, which became the charge against the demonstrators.

In April 2011, the regime's government decided to lift the state of emergency and abolish the Supreme State Security Court.

And in July 2012 it passed Anti-Terrorism Law No. 19.

In the same month, the regime ratified Law No. 22 establishing the Anti-Terrorism Court to rule on that law, which gave the Public Prosecutor the right to freeze the property of anyone who commits crimes related to "terrorist acts" or any crime under this law.

With the beginning of the revolution, the regime used legislation to impose collective punishment on all opponents of it as part of a systematic policy, according to a member of the Free Syrian Lawyers Association, lawyer Abdel Nasser Hoshan.

Hoshan explained - to Al-Jazeera Net - that the confiscation of lands under the guise of investment is a violation of Article No. 15 of the constitution, which prohibits exposure to private property or the confiscation of private property funds except in one case within the expropriation for the public benefit, on conditions and a final judicial decision, and that there is fair compensation for the injured.

He pointed out that the regime's disposal of the lands of the displaced also violates international law, as it is a seizure in the context of an internal armed conflict, through an authority that lacks legitimacy in constitutional custom, stressing that the process of appropriating property or looting is a war crime that does not fall under the statute of limitations.