Families of military officers who served under Syria’s ousted president Bashar al-Assad are being evicted from subsidized housing at a compound outside Damascus to make room for former rebel fighters, according to residents and fighters at the scene.
The Muadamiyat al-Sham housing complex, home to hundreds of people in over a dozen buildings, was originally designated for Assad-era military officers. As Syria’s military restructures to incorporate former rebel forces and demobilize Assad-era officers, the evictions come as no surprise.
However, the swift replacement of these families by fighters who previously lived in impoverished, rural rebel-held areas highlights the dramatic shift in fortunes for supporters of both sides of the conflict.
The names of rebel factions aligned with the main Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which captured Damascus on Dec. 8, are spray-painted on the entrances to the buildings, marking them for fighters from each faction.
Three fighters at the compound, along with four women living there and a local official assisting those leaving, confirmed that officers’ families were given five days’ notice to vacate.
“We will start moving our children’s schools, starting our lives over. I am very sad, my heart is broken, it’s our lives, my children’s lives,” said Budour Makdid, 38, the wife of a former military intelligence officer. Her husband has signed papers recognizing the new authorities and returned to their family home in Latakia, a former Assad stronghold, where she and their children will join him.
Makdid and other families leaving the compound must obtain a document from local authorities to remove their belongings. Khalil al-Ahmad, a local administrator, stated that around 200 requests for such documents had been made.
Ahmad, who had not been officially notified by the new administration, said residents approached him for documents several days ago.
A spokesman for HTS did not respond to requests for comment.
**Displacement and Property Rights in Post-Assad Syria**
The handling of former Assad officers and their property rights will be closely monitored as Syria’s new administration takes shape. Millions have been displaced since the civil war began in 2011, and the future of these displaced families remains uncertain.
Earlier this month, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was seen in a video asking residents of his family’s former home in Damascus to leave, allowing his own family to return. Some former military families living near Muadamiyat al-Sham, but not in the subsidized housing, are also relocating.
Eidye Zaitoun, 52, was preparing to leave her two-room apartment and move to the coast, saying her son in the military had already relocated there, leaving no reason for her to remain.
HTS fighters, who endured displacement themselves, showed little sympathy for the families leaving. One fighter remarked, “We were displaced out of homes, out of our regions on a moonless night with only the clothes we were wearing. Thank God they are now allowed to take out their belongings.”
REUTERS
