Enab Baladi – Mowaffak al-Khouja
Aref (70 years old) has lost at least eight dunams (around 8000 square meters) to a camp project being built by the Turkish Disaster Management Authority (AFAD), in collaboration with the Local Council of Akhtarin City, to house Syrian displaced people, without any compensation.
The farmer had to uproot about 60 olive trees, which are 26 years old, due to damage caused by construction vehicles passing through his land.
Aref owns a land area of 2.4 hectares, which connects the villages of Baraan and Qaar Kalbin, affiliated with Akhtarin city, inherited from his father, and he holds a green title deed in his name proving his ownership of it.
The entities building the camp seized lands that Aref could not cultivate due to its rocky nature, and they promised him to “satisfy” him without specifying the type of compensation.
AFAD is establishing a camp for the displaced on land between the villages of Baraan, Shadoud, and Qaar Kalbin, which is state-owned, and then expanded to seize private lands owned by residents of the area without referring to them.
AFAD, as the executing and funding body, began building the camp about six months ago, before the fall of the previous Syrian regime, to benefit Syrian displaced individuals, in collaboration with the local council that oversees construction operations, provides legal cover, and communicates with the residents.
Enab Baladi contacted the Turkish AFAD institution via email on April 11, asking about the details of the project and responding to residents’ accusations, but did not receive a reply. They resent another email as a reminder on April 22, without getting a response either.
For his part, Abdullah al-Naif, the media official for the Local Council of Akhtarin City, stated that the aim of the camp’s establishment is to remove the random camps spread across northern Aleppo and transfer them to a more organized camp, which may include those on Turkish land in the future.
Around 50 vehicles are participating in building the camp on land estimated to cover 31 hectares, which includes more than 3000 housing units, accommodating approximately 1500 families.
The camp will be equipped with comprehensive infrastructure and service facilities including schools, mosques, markets, a bakery, and health centers, according to what the local council stated to Enab Baladi.
They were forced to sell
Ahmed (45 years old), from the village of Shadoud, administratively affiliated with the city of al-Bab in eastern Aleppo, and a teacher by profession, was forced to sell a piece of his land to AFAD.
The organization offered Ahmed to buy the land at a price estimated to be less than one and a half dollars per square meter, but he objected to the price, considering it “unfair,” and eventually managed to obtain two dollars per square meter.
Ahmed did not initially wish to sell his land, but he was compelled to do so due to the facts on the ground after construction began and his crops and trees were damaged, leaving him no alternative but to sell.
However, al-Naif stated that the council compensated landowners with amounts exceeding the actual value, adding that the council is ready to compensate anyone whose land was affected by the project’s construction.
According to testimonies from villagers whose lands were taken for the project, the affected residents received around 16 thousand US dollars per hectare (one hectare=10 dunams) as compensation, but they all agreed that they would not have sold if it were not for the damage to their lands and the onset of construction operations.
Residents indicated that the value of compensation varied depending on the nature and location of the land.
A profitable project
Abdullah al-Naif pointed out that neighboring residents to the camp will benefit from the project due to the commercial activity resulting from the markets and facilities established.
Regarding the use of machinery on the lands during their passage, he clarified that the project’s teams are using unpaved agricultural roads, noting that these roads will be paved for the benefit of the residents as well.
He added that the council purchased the lands instead of leasing them due to the high costs of the project, with the goal of securing all services and infrastructure.
Al-Naif explained that the council has laid a long-term plan to convert the project, which was built for emergency reasons (displacement due to military operations), into a complete residential village similar to permanent housing clusters.
Other damages
The nearby residential buildings, agricultural lands, and the properties of livestock owners in the villages surrounding the camp have been damaged due to construction activities, including blasts and dust, which caused harm to trees and pastures that residents rely on for grazing.
Mohammed al-Mustafa (50 years old), who lives on a farm close to the camp, stated that the blasts during construction led to damage to nearby homes, in addition to the dust and dirt that harmed the crops.
His brother, Kamal al-Mustafa, indicated that a number of farmers protested against the project, demanding the council and AFAD to halt construction due to the damages inflicted on them, but the protest was dispersed without addressing their demands.
Video recordings obtained by Enab Baladi indicate damage to olive trees due to land leveling operations with rocks.
For his part, al-Naif promised to compensate for all damages, urging residents to approach the council to assess the damage in preparation for compensation.
What is the legal position?
The media office official for the council said that several sessions were held with residents before the project started, but then stopped and were resumed for internal reasons.
He added that the council, as a governmental executive body, is entitled to expropriate private lands to implement projects of public benefit, in exchange for compensation determined by the court.
The council offered residents amounts exceeding the actual value of the land, bypassing the lengthy court process.
Legal expert Abdalnasir Houshan believes that the council’s actions do not comply with the legal and constitutional procedures regarding expropriation, noting that Syrian law and constitution protect private property.
Houshan stated that the constitutional text does not permit encroachment on private properties except for public benefit, such as building schools, hospitals, roads, or mosques, under the condition of having a law and suitable compensation.
He pointed out that the expropriation law includes regulatory procedures, starting with presenting the project to the administrative unit, including justifications and goals, then it is referred to the real estate authorities, and completed through financial and evaluative committees that he described as “complex.”
Article 2 of Law No. 20 of 1983 states:
“It is permissible for ministries, administrations, public institutions, and administrative bodies to expropriate built or unbuilt properties, whether they are private property or endowed, or encumbered by a waqf right, for the purpose of implementing public benefit projects as stipulated in this legislative decree.”
Hopes for demolishing the camps
Syrians hope to eliminate the displacement camps in northern Syria following the fall of the previous Syrian regime on December 8, 2024.
Northwestern Syria witnessed a wide spread of camps that received displaced persons from various Syrian regions due to military operations between the opposition and the previous regime, and the bombardment that targeted residential areas.
More than two million people lived in camps, some of which were informal and others more organized, amid humanitarian and economic conditions that have persisted for years.
Despite the fall of the Assad regime, most camps remain due to delayed reconstruction operations and limited return of displaced people, as a result of their homes being destroyed, insufficient services, and the danger of unexploded ordnance.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that only about 333,000 people have left the camps in northwestern Syria since December 2024 until the end of April 2025, while around 7.4 million displaced individuals remain inside Syria.
What is the story behind the residents of rural Aleppo being forced to sell their lands? Enab Baladi.
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