Raqqa Residents Protest Demolition Plan in North of al-Sikka

Raqqa, Ahmad al-Hamdi

Malik Shahada, 50, is taking part in protests organized by residents of his neighborhood in response to a decision to demolish neighborhoods north of the railway line, known locally as North of al-Sikka, in Raqqa governorate (northern Syria), hoping to save his home from removal.

Malik Shahada told Enab Baladi that the area stretching from the Silos Roundabout to the Equestrian Roundabout was hit by sudden demolition decisions. The measures included four homes, six walled yards on the outskirts of the area, and five industrial facilities employing more than 250 local residents.

Residents of these neighborhoods organized, for the second time, a protest at the Hazima Roundabout near the threatened neighborhoods. Men, women, and young people from the area took part, demanding that the demolition decision be stopped or amended through procedures that take the rights of both sides into account.

Malik added that after the first protest, held on April 20, residents were asked to send a delegation to the governorate. He voiced his objection to the demolition operations, especially amid talk of a Saudi investment and a Chinese company to build housing projects on land in the area.

He said the official response was that these lands are “state property,” a claim residents deny, stressing that they possess official handover records and legal documents.

The informal neighborhoods of al-Andalus and al-Falluja suffer from a severe lack of basic services, including road networks, drinking water, and sewage systems.

According to Malik, the area’s lands are “replacement property” belonging to residents of the area. They had previously been expropriated for an agricultural project, then their owners were compensated with a small portion of their original areas. He said these lands were later distributed to residents under Legislative Decree No. 61 of 2004, and that residents have all the decisions and documents proving this.

Residents of the North of al-Sikka neighborhoods who spoke to Enab Baladi said their demand is to settle their status on the ground by organizing the area municipally, widening roads, building water, electricity, and sewage infrastructure, and paving roads, while paying legal reconciliation fees. They noted that residents of the area are poor.

Expansion After Multiple Controlling Forces

The area includes land said to be state property, especially around what is known as the “agricultural airport,” according to Muhammad Ibrahim, a resident of al-Andalus neighborhood in the North of al-Sikka neighborhoods.

Muhammad told Enab Baladi that some homes are built along the route of the “agricultural airport,” while others are built on the canal. Other residents own land under old contracts dating back to earlier periods.

He added that some of these lands were originally agricultural, received by their former owners, then returned to them in previous periods, after which they were developed and inhabited.

The reason for the informal urban expansion around Raqqa city goes back to the multiple forces that controlled the governorate over the past 13 years. These authorities did not prevent encroachment on public property or informal construction on it, in addition to the presence of influential figures within the forces that controlled the governorate who sold these properties.

He said the neighborhood includes families who have lived there since 1975, 1976, 1995, and 1997, while others built their homes in 2005 and 2006, during the period of the former regime.

He explained that a number of residents bought their land from people who had received 30 dunams from the “al-Raed Agricultural Project” and built on it. He pointed to planning violations, but said residents were not prevented from building at the time.

Regarding permits, Ibrahim said the homes did not obtain municipal permits. “We used to build and roof the houses without anyone questioning us, neither the municipality nor any other authority. That was what prevailed during that period.”

A Legal and Humanitarian Approach

The file of the North of al-Sikka neighborhoods in Raqqa city should be handled legally and humanely, not through rushed removal decisions, according to lawyer Abdullah al-Aryan.

The lawyer said there is an old decree dating back to the early 1980s that prevents the removal of any building standing on state land, even if it is in violation, unless its owner receives compensation.

Al-Aryan added that this point must be taken into account before any action is taken, especially since the number of those affected is estimated at about 3,000 families, most of them from limited income and poor groups.

He said any removal or relocation operation would cause great suffering for residents, in the absence of suitable housing alternatives. He noted that the area already suffers from difficult living conditions, turning muddy in winter, while in summer it becomes extremely hot and insects spread through it.

He explained that lands classified as “state property” are private property of the state, not sovereign land, which requires taking the social and humanitarian reality of residents into account before issuing removal decisions.

He stressed that the solution does not lie in demolishing informal settlements, but in organizing them and granting them clear legal and planning status. He noted that many residents were not responsible for the emergence of these areas, but that the circumstances of war, displacement, lack of oversight, and administrative negligence imposed them.

He said urban disorder is not limited to the North of al-Sikka neighborhoods, but includes several areas in Raqqa city, which requires a comprehensive planning strategy rather than temporary solutions and immediate reactions.

Al-Aryan concluded by stressing the need to document the conditions of affected families and submit them in an official file, in addition to activating the role of the municipality, strengthening oversight, and holding negligent parties accountable. He stressed that fair organization is better than demolition, because it protects residents’ rights and serves the city’s long-term interest.

Council Denies Eviction Notices

Raqqa City Council Chairman Abdul Rahman al-Hassan said during a meeting with media outlets attended by Enab Baladi that the council had not issued any eviction or demolition notices to residents of the North of al-Sikka neighborhood. Instead, a number of residents were informed that any new construction within the neighborhoods would be removed, while existing buildings would remain.

He added that the Raqqa City Council removed a number of violations that were not residential.

Al-Hassan identified expansion areas within Raqqa city’s neighborhoods as al-Sikka, al-Falluja, and Huwaijat Kadro, explaining that there is a plan to organize these informal neighborhoods.

He said this planning scheme requires a comprehensive topographic survey, and the study may take more than a year, according to the Raqqa City Council chairman during the meeting. He stressed that “eviction is rejected, and no notices have been directed to residents of informal settlements.”