Elderly Kurd Detained in Afrin.. For Demanding Return of His Confiscated Properties

Elderly Kurd Detained in Afrin.. For Demanding Return of His Confiscated Properties
The timing of the agricultural nursery owner's arrest reveals attempts to deter original residents from claiming their rights to recover confiscated properties
October 30, 2024, 11:18 pm

عفرين - ليفانت نيوز

"Military Police" militia elements in Afrin arrested citizen Mohammed Walid Hassan (58 years old) from Barka village in Mobata/Maabatli district.

Local sources explained that Hassan, owner of an agricultural nursery, was arrested for filing an official complaint against a settler from Retyan town in northern Aleppo countryside. Sources reported that the settler had seized four houses belonging to Hassan, located near Afrin River on "Trenda" road south of the city.

The arrest coincides with escalating complaints from local residents about property confiscation and their inability to reclaim their rights through legal channels, while the incident renews fears of continued intimidation of original residents in the region and preventing them from demanding the return of their confiscated properties.

Human rights organizations point to ongoing violations in Afrin city since its occupation by Syrian opposition armed factions in 2018, documenting widespread property confiscation, olive tree cutting, and imposing levies on original residents.

Rights statistics indicate thousands of houses have been confiscated in Afrin, alongside tens of thousands of cases of ancient olive trees being cut down, not to mention thousands of kidnapping and ransom cases.

Demographic change operations continue in the region through settling families from other Syrian areas in forcibly displaced people's homes, with settlers exceeding 75% of total population, according to observers' estimates.

Original Kurdish residents complain of restricted movement freedom, constraints on Kurdish language use in schools, and changing village names and historical landmarks, amid ignored international demands to stop these practices.

Rights activists confirm that citizen Hassan's case represents a recurring pattern of original residents' suffering, who face the choice of staying silent about their rights violations or risking arrest and intimidation when trying to recover them through "legal channels."

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