DAMASCUS: Syria has amended a controversial property law to allow people a year instead of a month to prove ownership of land seized for development, the foreign minister said Saturday.The law, known as Decree 10, allows Syria´s government to seize private property for zoned developments and compensate proven owners with shares in the new projects.Critics, including rights groups and neighbouring Lebanon, have warned the law could prevent millions of Syrians displaced by the seven-year war from ever returning home.Owners inevitably lose their property under the decree, but after an amendment now have up to a year — instead of 30 days — to claim shares after a new zone is announced if they prove ownership.“The time period has been amended and become a year,” Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said at a press conference in the Syrian capital.Muallem said the nationwide law was “necessary” after the regime regained control of the former rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus in April, through a military assault and evacuation deals that displaced tens of thousands from their homes.“Property regulation was necessary to restore the rights of the owners,” he said, accusing rebels of “burning real estate records” and “manipulating” property deeds when they held the region.
06-03-2018, 07:19 PM
Syria extends deadline for property claims
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