Housing, Land and Property

17 01, 2025
  • A view of Douma, a city in the East Ghouta suburbs of Damascus, shows the Great Mosque and part of the market on al-Jalaa Street, 9/1/2025 (Hamza Hijazi/Syria Direct)

With Assad’s fall, Douma comes back to life

By Hamza Hijazi|2025-01-31T15:57:02+01:00January 17, 2025|

With the Assad regime gone, Douma is coming back to life. Markets are bustling in the East Ghouta city, as construction workers repair damaged buildings and displaced residents return to visit or settle down. 

19 10, 2023
  • Satellite images show increasing damage to buildings in al-Hajar al-Aswad, a city south of Damascus, in the years since regime forces regained control in May 2018 (Google Earth/SkyFi/Syria Direct)

Buildings in Damascus’ al-Hajar al-Aswad demolished, rubble sold

By Habib Shehada|2023-10-20T09:47:21+02:00October 19, 2023|

In al-Hajar al-Aswad, south of Damascus, buildings are steadily being demolished—regardless of whether they are structurally sound—with the rubble sold for profit under the eyes of regime forces. Some fear demolitions could be a precursor to expropriations under redevelopment plans.

15 08, 2023

The Hope to Return (Episode 5): The future of the camps

By Lyse Mauvais|2023-08-15T14:44:23+02:00August 15, 2023|

Many houses have been destroyed, looted or confiscated by Turkish-backed armed groups in areas they seized during Operation Peace Spring. Similar acts have been carried out with impunity by a range of armed groups across Syria in recent years. Meanwhile, many displaced people have lost the documents proving that they own land or a house in their native towns and villages. What can Khedr, Amina and Zahra do to protect their property rights back home? This is the fourth episode of “The Hope to Return,” a podcast series by Syria Direct.

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