Episode 4: Razed to the ground for ‘security reasons’


June 8, 2021

There is no trace of Yasmine’s family home nor of the fig tree in the garden that she spent so much of her childhood reading under. Yasmine’s family house, located in the al-Khaleej neighborhood near Damascus, was razed to the ground by the Syrian army on grounds that it was too close to the Mezzeh military airport. Her family was offered no compensation.

Yasmine knows she can’t even think of rebuilding her house given that her land was expropriated by the state and she wouldn’t even be able to access it. Despite the circumstances, this psychologist doesn’t lose hope and insists on the importance of documenting HLP violations in the hopes of a future trial that will lead to restoration and justice.

This is the fourth episode of the short documentary series ‘Losing Home,’ a project that illustrates the pain and rage that hides behind Housing, Land and Property (HLP) violations.