Off the Scales: A Kurdish Tale of Absent Justice in Syria

• The author, a Kurdish woman named Rima, documents her family’s repeated displacement and the seizure of their properties amid the ongoing conflict in Syria.
• Property rights remain nonexistent for many, as families face extortion, threats of violence, and permanent loss of homes to armed factions and opportunistic occupants.
• Fear and lack of justice characterize the daily lives of displaced civilians, who remain caught between unstable frontlines and systemic instability.

History of Displacement

• The family was first displaced in 2013 from the Al-Ashrafiya neighborhood in Aleppo due to shelling between the Free Syrian Army and regime forces.
• A second displacement occurred in 2018 following the Turkish military's "Operation Olive Branch" in Afrin.
• A third displacement recently occurred during renewed attacks on Al-Ashrafiya and Sheikh Maqsoud, forcing family members to flee toward Qamishli.

Property Seizure and Extortion

• The family’s house in Afrin was seized by an armed faction leader from "Ahrar al-Sharqiya," who remains in residence, monitors the property with cameras, and has fenced it off.
• Despite a meeting between Rima's father and the occupant, the individual demanded over $5,000 to vacate the home, citing his own grievances related to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Deir ez-Zor.
• The occupant has threatened to blow up the house if the family refuses to pay the full extortion fee.

Implications for Displaced Families

• Many Kurdish families in the region feel they have become bargaining chips, with little recourse for property recovery or physical safety.
• Family members who remain in or return to Aleppo face constant scrutiny, intimidation, and poor living conditions amidst lingering rubble.
• Mothers and elders live in constant fear for the lives of younger male relatives, often suppressing their own stories of trauma to avoid further retaliation.