Damascus, Syria – Nizar al-Madani, 34, stood with tears in his eyes as he seemed round Qaboun.
After seven years of displacement, he returned on Tuesday to his neighbourhood in Syria’s capital, Damascus, solely to seek out it levelled.
“We’d heard that the regime demolished the neighbourhood, however seeing it with my very own eyes was totally surprising,” he mentioned.
When al-Madani and his household have been displaced from Qaboun in 2017, most of the neighbourhood’s buildings have been broken.
“However at the moment, there isn’t a hint of those buildings… The regime has obliterated the neighbourhood’s options.”
He was not the one one who got here out to Qaboun to see what was left after the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell.
A number of residents of Qaboun who had additionally fled for his or her lives are strolling round, making an attempt to determine the place their homes might have been.
Revenge and destruction
The al-Assad regime would intentionally destroy areas that rose in opposition to him after regaining management, using varied legal guidelines to legitimise that.
Chief amongst these was Legislation No. 10 of 2018, which authorised the institution of latest city zones in war-damaged areas and gave Syrian refugees solely 30 days to show possession of their property. Failure to take action would end result within the property being confiscated.
Many individuals have been too afraid to come back again to Syria or to their neighbourhoods, fearing that they might be arrested and charged with opposing al-Assad.
Nadeedah Hannawi, 50, informed Al Jazeera that her household was unable to show possession of their residence, having fled to the north the place there was no regime-controlled forms, and since they didn’t have their possession paperwork with them.
“The fallen al-Assad regime didn’t simply displace us; it sought to steal the properties we had constructed with our life financial savings,” mentioned Hannawi.
“Figuring out the place my residence and my husband’s store was was no straightforward job,” she added. “Even the cemetery holding the graves of our family members has been destroyed.
“A very powerful factor at the moment is that the felony Bashar al-Assad has fled, his regime has fallen, and our land has been returned to us. Collectively, we’ll rebuild it,” Hannawi mentioned.
Mahmoud Jahbar, 53, echoed her sentiments.
“Al-Assad’s regime destroyed our properties and reminiscences, however we’re hopeful that we’ll rebuild so our kids have a spot to name residence.”
