Report: Hundreds of trees are cut down in Afrin to build an illegal village

Report: Hundreds of trees are cut down in Afrin to build an illegal village
September 20, 2022, 4:37 pm

The project, launched by the "Ihsan Relief and Development" organization in "Jindires" district, began in 2019 by cutting hundreds of forest trees on a local hillside

In its report on the illegal resettlement of fighters of the opposition’s Syrian National Army (SNA) and their families in Afrin, “Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ)” reveals the complicity of humanitarian organizations, Syrian and international in this project.

The project supports internally displaced people (IDPs) to resettle in Afrin, which has historically identified as a Syrian Kurdish-majority region.

The project, launched by the "Ihsan Relief and Development" organization in "Jindires" district, began in 2019 by cutting hundreds of forest trees on a local hillside, according to exclusive satellite footage obtained by STJ.

It was implemented on the lands seized in the aftermath of the Operation Olive Branch in 2018, during which thousands of locals were displaced, and the “settlement” area is under the direct control of the “Samarkand Brigade” faction of the SNA’s First Corps, supported by Turkey.

The report also found that the "al-Sham Humanitarian Foundation", under the supervision of the Kuwaiti “Rahma International Society” organization, participated in serving a part of the project and encouraging IDPs from other Syrian regions to settle in that village.

In this report, “Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ)” reveals the complicity of three humanitarian organizations, Syrian and international, in the illegal resettlement of fighters of the opposition’s Syrian National Army (SNA) and their families through a project advertised to support internally displaced people (IDPs) in Afrin, which has historically identified as a Syrian Kurdish-majority region.

These two organizations played a key role in building Jabal al-Ahlam (Mountain of Dreams), most of which was devoted to housing fighters and their families, which is an example of forced demographic change which has occurred throughout the Syrian conflict, according to the report.

The village that was established by the "Ihsan" organization consists of two residential blocks (an eastern and a western block). It is one of nine villages and human settlements, whose construction work began after the Turkish military occupation of the Afrin region, according to the description of Amnesty International, which documented different patterns of violations after the occupation.

Afrin: Demographic change and ethnic cleansing

The Syrian Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC), also concluded that because Turkey exercises effective control over parts of northern Syria, including both exercising military control and enforcing Turkish laws, running schools, and organizing other institutions, it has obligations as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

According to reliable sources of STJ, all of these illegal villages were built upon the approval of the Afrin City Local Council (ACLC) and based on the instructions of Rahmi Doğan, governor of the Turkish State of Hatay, and the Turkish official responsible for this area.

To read the full report, please click on the link below

STJ

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