A media investigative report stated that Syria has witnessed the largest “real estate theft” in its history by those who forged its safety nets and refugee homes outside the country.
The British Guardian newspaper published the investigation report prepared in cooperation with the non-governmental organization “The Day After” and the Syrian Investigative Journalism Unit “SIRAJ”.
In the report, it was stated that the process of confiscation of refugee homes constitutes a major obstacle to the return of refugees to their homes.
Counterfeiters benefit from “absence of real owners and long litigation times if fraud cases reach the courts,” according to the investigation, as well as the networks’ experience in forgery and collaboration with lawyers. notaries, employees and real estate office owners.
The investigation charges “officers and military personnel, including security workers or persons with security connections, or members of the Fourth Division forces led by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brother, Mahir Assad.”
The investigation referred to the statements of Mohammad Osama Burhan, the head of the Bar Association’s branch in rural Damascus, regarding the arrests of many lawyers last August, who were engaged in fraudulent agencies to sell real estate, and in particular establishing legal offices. people residing outside the country.
Likewise, the statements of the former head of the Syrian Bar Association, Nizar al-Sakif, about the fate of lawyers who committed fraud, revealed that the number of lawyers decreased from 28 thousand to 25 thousand as a result of the dismissal of a great lawyer. and the number of them is due to behaviors that are “inappropriate for the legal profession, including fraudulent”.
In the investigation, many testimonies of Syrians whose homes were confiscated, such as “Abdullah”, were cited because they sought refuge outside the country and could not get their homes back through the judiciary.
Abdullah refuses to return to Syria as long as the current Syrian regime is in power, as he is wanted by security forces.
As for Iman, he says he returned to Syria from Turkey to visit his family and see his house in November 2021, but learned that the house is now the owner of the tenant and has a property document in his name.
“It shocked me,” he says.
According to the investigation, lawyer Abdel Nasser Hoshan, a member of a group of Syrian lawyers, associates the fraud operations with networks and individuals linked to the Fourth Division, “because it is the economic and security arm and the gateway to the confiscation of many.” economic projects.
The investigation in the confiscation cases of Syrians includes changing the name of the owner in the real estate registry, then changing the name of the real owner, and then issuing the real estate registration statement or title deed.
The falsification of victims’ identities, as well as threats at gunpoint and the spread of corruption, open the door to fraudulent operations.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Syria has experienced one of the world’s worst displacement and refugee crises as more than 13 million people have either fled the country or fled within its borders as a result of the war.
Source: Anatolia
