Syrian left landless after the regime auctions their ancestral land without consent

In a move that has left many Syrian’s landless, the Syrian regime has forced auction of these lands, where the displaced Syrian’s once lived or had papers to. These people, who have been subjected to war for more than 10 years, have had another blow this month as the Assad rule seized their land for auction. 

People with knowledge of the event and other locals say that most of these lands were in the northwest part of Syria, which was captured by authorities and those loyal to the current regime. They further added that they have confiscated fertile land and have staged an auction for it. 

Even though the public has suffered a lot, they assert that somewhere they were aware of how it was going to be when they came back to claim their lands. Salman, a 30-year-old refugee, said that once he left Idlib last year due to increased violence, he knew that it would be returned to get the family plot. 

But still, he chose to return only to be disappointed by the fact that authorities had already sold the rights to his family land to a complete stranger. He is in Greece at present and as he talked to a news agency, AFP, he questioned the authority's‘ What right does someone have to come and take the land’. 

In October this year, the unions had said that they are selling the rights themselves to cultivate anything on these lands, a move that received a lot of criticism but was implemented anyway. 

But the highlight of the atrocity done to these people was that they were not even informed nor any other source of income was created for them. Salman, who goes by his pseudonym, came to know about this through social media. It's not just Salman, but other Syrian from the southern part of Hama and Aleppo have also revealed that their land has also been snatched from them. 

Auctions are still being organized by the regime. A human rights organization operating in Syria said, “Other auctions are being organized by regime-linked local security committees, without any mention of outstanding debts.”