2018

The Syrian crisis is about to enter a new phase with the increasing tension among the conflicting parties shaping the future of the country. The northern province of Idlib awaits a bleak fate, despite the deal that Russia and Turkey brokered; the city will inevitably be destroyed unless the international community stops Assad’s military. Although the armed conflict occupies the spotlight in the media, the war economy and managing the investments in Syria is equally important. Consequently, the relevance of the law to the recent events and changes on the international stage shows Russia’s intention to put an end to the war and to cooperate with neighboring countries to send refugees back to Syria and find a way to solve the situation in Idlib with minimum media coverage. Then Putin declares the end of the Syrian crises, the beginning of the reconstruction of cities and resettlement of Syrians not only from Idlib and neighboring countries but also from the EU.

SYRBANISM SURVEYS PROPERTY TYPES IN SYRIA TO ASSESS THREAT NEW REGULATION POSES TO DISPLACED OWNERS

Interview with Edwar Hanna

In April 2018 Syria issued Law 10, which sets guidelines for the creation of development zones over existing urban areas. The law stipulates the re-allotment of property, within set timeframes, in preparation for reconstruction. Experts are warning that Law 10 discounts the majority of the residents of areas destroyed during the war, who have been forcibly separated from their homes.

I interviewed Edwar Hanna of Syrbanism about a survey the group has launched which aims to understand the typology of property in Syria and the different ways owners of each type will be impacted by the new law. Syrbanism is an urban initiative founded in 2017 by Hanna and fellow Syrian architect Nour Harastani, „to support oppressed Syrian residents against urban injustices.”

Nora Palandjian, a former research intern for the Shattuck CCNR, worked with Bellingcat on this policy report as part of her Applied Policy Project at the School of Public Policy at Central European University. As a completion of her studies, she was required to design and carry out a policy project for an organization with two other graduate students. This team was also supervised by Cameran Ashraf and Marius Dragomir, two professors at the School of Public Policy. Her Applied Policy Project team collaborated with Bellingcat, a well-known investigative journalist organization that has previously written extensively about Syria. The center is pleased to announce Nora and her team’s hard work on the coordination of networks that surround the Syrian conflict.

This paper was presented at the fourth Lemkin Reunion, held in February 2018 and organized by the Shattuck Center at the School of Public Policy, Central European University in Budapest. The paper is based on research carried out by the authors in 2017 at the Shattuck Center’s Aleppo Project.

As of March 2018, 384,425 Aleppians remain internally displaced inside Syria with 62,970 residing in Idlib governorate. This portion in Idlib represents 16.3 percent of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from Aleppo. The approximately other 83 percent that was displaced by the conflict relocated inside of Aleppo governorate (70 percent) or Ar-Raqqa (13 percent). [1] This report focuses on the residents of Aleppo that are displaced within rebel-held areas, specifically Idlib governorate. These IDPs face the most difficult barriers to return to their homes in eastern Aleppo, a regime-held area. Their current conditions are insecure with continued violence in the region and little economic security. They live in dire conditions with makeshift and rented houses. They have limited access to healthcare and education facilities for their children. Despite being on Syrian territory only a few kilometers from their home they are not able to return.

As part of its annual Lemkin Reunion, The Shattuck Center on Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery at CEU’s School of Public Policy hosted in Budapest the 4th Lemkin Reunion. The topic was on displaced Syrians and the obstacles to return, with a panel discussion with:

Basel Aljunaidy, Director of Orient Policy Center, Gaziantep

Senay Ozden, Cultural Anthropologist, Hamisch Syrian Cultural House, Istanbul

Ugur Ümit Üngör, Associate Professor of History at Utrecht University and the Institute of War and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam

Radwan Ziadeh, Senior Analyst at the Arab Center, Washington DC

Moderated by Martin Kahanec, Acting Dean of the CEU School of Public Policy and the Shattuck Center

We will be publishing papers from the Lemkin Reunion that can be found on the in the Papers section of the website here. This video features interviews with Senay Ozden and Basel Aljunaidy.

Learn more: ccnr.ceu.edu

Of the traditional folklore of Aleppo, there is one song that was heard throughout the Middle East. Sung by Fairouz, a Lebanese legend, and Sabah Fakhri, an icon of Aleppo, Al-Rozana describes the atrocious years of World War I and tells the story of how the merchants of Aleppo helped those in need in Beirut, who were facing dire economic circumstances due to the war.

Today, the people of Aleppo are themselves experiencing even worse circumstances and could definitely use the help of a friend, especially during the month of Ramadan and the approaching Eid. Aleppians, evacuated from the Eastern part of the city have joined deportees from other parts of Syria and together they live in small cities in the countryside of the Aleppo.  They have an immutable resolution to thrive in their country even against all odds.

This is an online survey of modern areas of socio-commercial activity in the city of Aleppo before and after 2012. Aleppians know where to get things bought or done, but modern maps of the city do not account for these markets, excepting those in the Old City. However, there are a lot of different markets that supply the people of Aleppo with goods and services. The aim of the survey is to document areas of socio-economic activity Aleppians use or used to visit for their shopping before, during and after the war that split Aleppo into segregated eastern and western halves in 2012, culminating in the destruction of much of eastern Aleppo and the forced displacement of most its residents. Through this, we are hoping to create a map of these markets that preserves the memories of the residents of different parts of the city while guarding against ignoring these lived experiences and realities during the reconstruction process. The map and a report of the findings will be published on the website of the Aleppo Project and will be shared publicly with other scholars, including the Syrian Heritage Archive at the German Archaeological Institute. Anything you would like to share with us about these markets will improve our knowledge about them.

When speaking of markets, we do not only consider those areas which bear the word market as part of their name. Please also think about other commercial areas where you used to go and which you might know better as “X Street” or “Y Roundabout”.

To complete the survey in Arabic or English, please click here.

The first set of questions is about one market area you used to go to. You can fill in information about as many markets as you would like by clicking the plus (+) sign at the end of each section. At the end, you can also include information about those areas where you prefer(red) NOT to shop.

The whole questionnaire is anonymous. No data will be asked that can be used to identify the person answering the survey. The data will only be used for the purpose of the survey and will be treated confidentially.

The survey will take approximately 20 minutes. You can leave out any questions you are not comfortable answering. If at any point you do not wish to answer more questions, please do not just leave it, but still scroll down and submit the answers you already gave.

Thank you!

The Aleppo Project at CEU’s School of Public Policy

* Photo: “Souq in Aleppo” by Michał Unolt. Taken on March 29, 2010. Flickr.

A lot has changed for the White Helmets since the success of an Academy Award-winning documentary that followed the volunteers through their humanitarian mission to extract residents from the airstrike induced ruins of eastern Aleppo. The city has since fallen, or been liberated depending on your source, and the political landscape has shifted heavily to favor the regime. Times are not easy for the White Helmets, a civilian organization that does not carry arms or engage in combat, and this has been made all the worse by an online campaign that has rallied against the organization with wide-ranging, and often inconsistent accusations that intend to sully the credibility of the first responders. A cursory glance over their English language Facebook page will reveal a wave of attacks and vicious accusations that have assailed many posts. Charges that civilians are forced by the White Helmets to act like airstrike victims are common, as are claims that the White Helmets are themselves an armed terrorist group. One comment referred to them as the Al Qaeda’s Medical Brigade. Reviews for the organization are similarly polarized, with some thanking the White Helmets for the work they do, while others describe them as pawns of the US, CIA, UK, Israel, Wahhabism, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Zionists, or even George Soros. While one may be tempted to discredit these attacks as misinformed minorities, there is much more to these accusations than lone conspiracy theories. There is a network of such ideas, being supported and encouraged by a series of individuals and news sites that claim to know the truth. These accusations come with citations and sources, but always from the same places.