After the border crossings with Turkey opened to visitors, loved ones met after long absences and many families were reunited. The opening of the border crossings coincided with the decision to reduce the escalation of tension, and the general calm witnessed in northern Syria in the most recent period all of which prompted many people from Idlib to decide not to return to Turkey.
This surprise decision has created a housing crisis for people who were forcefully displaced from Damascus Countryside.
Firas, 26 from Daraya, lives in Taftaz. He received a phone call from his landlord asking him to vacate the house within a week since the landlord had decided to return from Turkey after a three-year absence.
“I rented the house from the man's relatives, and the house needed a lot of repairs,” Firas said. “When I asked them for how long I could stay there, they said that until God is willing.”
These words prompted Firas to do up the house. He thought that the landlord would not think of returning as long as Idlib’s cities and towns were being heavily bombarded.
“I have only been married a few months and my wife is pregnant so I don’t know where I will go. I tried searching for a house and until now I have not found one and the deadline will be over soon,” he said to Eqtsad.
In contrast, Ghassan managed to hold on to the house he had inhabited free of charge since his arrival in Idlib, by offering to pay rent from now on.
“The landlord came to me, he began to apologize, and give and take. He said he wanted the house back on the basis he is going to marry off his son who is returning from Turkey. I did not hesitate for a moment. I offered him rent and he agreed,” Ghassan explained.
Ghassan lives in a village near the city of Idlib with his wife and children. He found a job that earns him an acceptable income that helps him pay 8,000 Syrian Pounds a month for rent. “But I find it difficult to manage my salary. I am afraid I will not be able to continue to paying rent and may have to leave the house,” explained Ghassan.
On the other hand, Thaer’s repeated attempts and the continuous search to find a house to rent in the village he lives in in the west of the province have failed. “After we got used to the atmosphere in the village and felt a little comfortable,” he said, “The landlords asked for their homes back after their family returned from Turkey and I am now forced to leave.”
Thaer appeared upset by the events and said, “If they wanted the house after a while, why did they tell us we could stay in the house for at least a year? If I had paid rent since I arrived, I would not have been subjected to this humiliation.”
“The house was in terrible condition, no one could live in it. I cleaned it up and made it inhabitable, and when it is improved a bit, we have to leave!”
Eqtsad spoke to many other families who were forcefully displaced from Daraya who appeared astonished with these practices and the changes they are experiencing. Most of the families coming from Damascus countryside are facing a housing crisis. Tens have left the houses they were offered when they first arrived, other are having to pay rent, and others are having to increase the rent they are paying to be able to remain in the house.
The people of Daraya living in northern Syria, are awaiting the residential village promised by large organizations to house the people of Daraya. The promises were made in the first conference held in Idlib in March 2017, but so far none of these promised have been applied on the ground.
According to a member of the Daraya Committee in the north, the foundations for the project have not yet been set, and so far no organization has adopted the project. He added that the project is studied and the land is ready but the costs are high and no one so far has donated, “but we are trying our hardest to ensure it succeeds”.
He continued, “But I do not think it will be done soon as the organizations are only interested in providing food and they are not considering other important aspects.”
According to local sources, 750 families from Daraya are living in scattered villages and towns in Idlib. The vast majority of these families are concentrated in the towns of Jarjnaz and Sarmin.
