The Syrian Coalition’s Committee on Law 10 and the Real Estate Legislations held a workshop to discuss the various decrees that the Assad regime issued with the aim of expropriation of civilians’ property. These decrees came as part of the regime’s plans to consolidate the demographic change it is seeking to bring about in the country.
The workshop, which was held in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, was held under the title “Latest Developments in Real Estate Legislation and Protection of Property Rights” and lasted for two days. It brought together members of the Committee as well as Syrian and foreign legal and real estate experts.
The participants discussed the real estate property in international law, the international conventions, and a number of peace treaties that ensured protection for property rights.
The workshop also discussed mechanisms for proving ownership of property in accordance with the zoning plans that were in place prior to 2011. The participants also reviewed the Assad regime’s breaches of these plans.
The participants pointed out that the amendments that the Assad regime has recently introduced to Law 10 failed to ensure protection for the property rights of Syrian civilians nor did they dispel Syrians’ fear of their property being expropriated.
They underscored that the absence of a safe environment and an independent judiciary in the country is discouraging property owners from laying claim to their rights or giving a warrant of attorney to their relatives to do so on their behalf, which makes the latest amendments worthless.
The participants set forth a set of recommendations to ensure protection of property rights and prevent the Assad regime from going ahead with its plans. They also stressed the need to carry on with the strategy being adopted to confront the Assad regime’s policies aimed at bringing about demographic change and the expropriation of Syrian civilians. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
