Baladi - Coverage
Millions of Syrian refugees stand permanently to lose the homes they fled, under a new law from the Assad regime confiscating vacated property.
“Law Ten” gives Syrian home owners until May 10 to present their property deeds to their local council or face the liquidation of their titles and the seizure of their homes. The law took effect this month, giving Syrians only 30 days to comply or lose their property to the state.
Almost half the population have fled their homes over the course of the seven-year conflict. About six million Syrians are living outside the country as refugees and seven million more are displaced within its borders.
More than 100,000 civilians have been displaced in the past two weeks after rebel strongholds around Damascus struck evacuation deals with the government. Rebel fighters and civilians who left the areas were transported to the opposition-held Idlib province.
Under the new law, anyone seeking to re-register their property must first gain approval from the feared state security organisation which operates only in government-held areas. Thousands of opposition activists and supporters, within Syria and abroad, are subject to arrest warrants.
The government says the new law is designed to combat squatting and aid the reconstruction of areas destroyed by the war. Many of those affected, however, say it is designed to prevent their eventual return.
Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK’s Syria campaign manager, said: “This appears to be an attempt by the Assad government to cynically benefit from the traumatic uprooting of millions of civilians from their homes. The international community should unite in opposing any attempt to seize the property of displaced Syrians.”
Source: The Times