October 19, 2020
Pro-government supporters and regime forces attend a flag raising ceremony at the entrance of the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Damascus after the regime seized the Yarmuk Palestinian camp and adjacent neighborhoods, 24/5/2018 (AFP)
BEIRUT In April 2018, Mona Khaity got on a green bus in the city of Douma, in eastern Ghouta, leaving behind five years of siege and her home, which remains empty to date. This 37-year-old laboratory doctor is one of the 12 million Syrians forced into displacement, inside Syria or abroad, many of whom have seen their Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights violated.
Mona, currently living in Turkey, lost her home as a result of being displaced under a so-called ‘reconciliation agreement’, while others have been displaced because of the bombs. Further, thousands have seen their properties seized through counterterrorism legislation. The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented 3,970 seizures