1. Executive Summary
In this comprehensive report, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) examines the systematic and widespread practices of looting and extortion in the Kurdish-majority Afrin/Efrîn region. The report focuses on the taxes levied on olive farmers by factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) since their takeover of the area following the 2018 Operation Olive Branch.
The report relies on 39 detailed testimonies from Kurdish witnesses, including farmers, landowners, and olive press owners, who described the heavy fees imposed on their main sources of income. These fees are mainly enforced by various factions of the SNA, such as the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (also known as al-Amshat), the al-Hamza/al-Hamzat Division, the Sultan Murad Division, the Muntasir Billah Brigade, the Mu’tasim Division (formerly Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim Billah), the Ninth Brigade, the Sham Legion/Faylaq al-Sham, and Faction 51 of the Levant Front/al-Jabha al-Shamiya, among others. As a result, while millions of U.S. dollars (USD) have been taken through these practices, farmers are left struggling to survive between harvest seasons.
The amounts levied on farmers varied by controlling faction and, in some cases, even by village. While the names of these levies differed, they encompassed nearly every aspect of the olive industry. Taxes were imposed on both productive and non-productive trees, their protection, the harvest, olive pressing, oil production, and trade. Factions collected these payments either in cash or in kind, often seizing a portion of the harvest or oil, through their economic and security offices. In some instances, village mukhtars assisted by providing information on the number of trees each farmer owned. Additionally, some faction members imposed and collected unofficial levies for their own personal gain.
Olive groves subject to levies included those owned by individuals displaced within Afrin, other parts of Syria, or abroad. These owners often relied on relatives or acquaintances to tend and harvest the land. The amount of the levy varied depending on the owner’s location and the faction in control. Many of these properties were also seized under various pretexts.
Many farmers face harassment aimed at forcing them to pay extortion fees. Those who resist often suffer beatings, arbitrary arrests, property confiscations, and even destruction of their olive trees. Both official and unofficial justice systems are practically nonexistent, and those that do exist are mostly ineffective. This situation persists amid widespread impunity.
This report is issued less than a year after the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, serving as an early warning to urgently protect farmers’ rights and livelihoods and to prevent their ongoing exploitation by factions of the SNA in 2025. These factions still exercise de facto control over large parts of Afrin, despite the reported dissolution of the SNA and its nominal integration into the new government’s Ministry of Defense, which now bears the responsibility for ensuring protection.
For the sake of clarity and consistency, this report uses the term ‘SNA’ to refer to these factions and their political and military affiliations during the documented period, irrespective of any subsequent changes in their status or alignment.
You May Read and Download the Full Report (57 Pages), in PDF Format by Clicking Here.