Background
The government of Syria (GOS) has been for years seizing vast swathes of agricultural land in the countryside of Hama and Idlib provinces in northern Syria through occasional confiscation or illegitimate auctioning. It lays claim to such lands—freezing ownership for a limited or unlimited time—under the pretext of the absence of the original owners and their de facto inability to access them for several reasons, including forced displacement from these areas as a result of previous military operations. Additionally, many landowners fear returning due to being wanted by Syrian security services for alleged “terrorism” charges, meaning they risk arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearance upon return. Furthermore, some owners of these lands are refugees in Türkiye or other countries.
The GOS-led military operations that affected the suburbs of Hama and Idlib—which were directly supported by the Russian air force—caused a massive wave of forced displacement from the targeted areas. In late August 2019, the United Nations reported that over 400,000 people fled their homes, escaping from violence. GOS forces subsequently consolidated control over vast territories, including lands belonging to internally displaced people (IDPs) from northern and western Hama countryside as well as southern Idlib. By early March 2020, the GOS was estimated to have recaptured more than 270 towns, villages and regions across Idlib, Aleppo and Hama’s rural areas over the preceding months, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Their December 2020 report documented the scale of territory recovered by the GOS.
Following military control of these areas, the GOS and affiliates began unlawfully seizing and claiming ownership of land belonging to IDPs, refugees and expats under the guise of “investment.” The properties were then leased out and put up for public auction by the so-called Province General Secretariat (PGS) in both Idlib and Hama since mid-2020.
In September 2021, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) published an investigative report examining how the GOS held public auctions in Hama aimed at investing agricultural lands owned by IDPs and refugees through the province’s Security Committee, including pistachio orchards. Similarly, on 25 June 2022, the media outlet Syria Direct published a report titled “Public auctioning of displaced people’s land threatens Syria’s social fabric”, as it caused “divorces and threats of killing and revenge among relatives.” They have also created “antagonism and estrangement between co-owners, whether they are co-owners of the land or heirs to it.”
This report covers auctions announced since the beginning of 2024, relying on five exclusive testimonies obtained by STJ from landowners originally from Hama and Idlib provinces. All are unable to return to their lands, which have been continuously and annually auctioned off for investment.
Only two landowners were able to access agricultural yields by granting powers of attorney (POAs) to their first or second-degree relatives who participate in the public auctions annually announced by the GOS for each agricultural season. The other three reported being unable to access their lands for over ten years or invest them through subsequent public auctions, due to their political opposition to the GOS controlling the areas where their lands are located.
Pseudonyms are used in this report to refer to sources in order to ensure their safety and the safety of their relatives remaining in GOS-held areas. Sources also noted that individuals close to the government or shabiha (pro-GOS militiamen) at times benefit from lands belonging to IDPs and expats, along with Syrian army members.
In addition to testimonies, the report relies on verified open-source information, including data from other investigations into the auctions or social media posts.
You may read and download the full version of the Report in PDF format by clicking here.