The Syrian Future Movement followed the announcement made on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, by the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment and the General Directorate of Real Estate Affairs, regarding the launch of the electronic real estate registration service via the “My Transactions” application and the “Enjaz” platform in the governorates of Damascus, Daraa, Quneitra, and Latakia, with plans to expand it to include the remaining governorates later.
The Syrian Future Movement, which emerged from the Syrian revolution in 2012 to establish a national vision based on freedom, justice, and human dignity, sees this step as an opportunity to reform a vital sector. However, it also warns against reducing the digital transformation to its technical aspects without addressing the underlying legal and political issues that have crippled the real estate sector for decades and led to grave violations against millions of Syrians.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that true digitalization cannot be achieved without:
- Complete data transparency.
- Protection of property rights for all Syrians, regardless of their location or displacement date.
- Clear mechanisms for accountability and compensation for past violations.
We also emphasize that addressing real estate ownership issues and looted property constitutes a fundamental pillar of transitional justice, and the restoration of individual rights cannot be separated from the building of new institutions.
We reiterate what was stated in the study “Applied Statistics as a Tool for Post-Conflict Planning,” issued by the Economic Bureau of the Syrian Future Movement on February 25, 2016: any data management system, including real estate data, must be based on unified national principles, ensuring its accessibility to independent oversight bodies and stakeholders. Otherwise, it will reproduce discrimination and exclusion using modern tools.
While the Syrian Future Movement appreciates any effort aimed at facilitating citizens’ transactions and reducing bureaucracy, it believes that the current announcement raises fundamental and insurmountable problems, foremost among them:
First: The absence of any reference to a clear mechanism that guarantees the rights of millions of internally and externally displaced Syrians who were forced by the war to leave their homes and properties. Without providing them with secure channels to appoint legal representatives to defend their rights or register their properties remotely, the electronic service becomes a tool for legitimizing existing situations at the expense of the displaced.
Second: The failure to address the fate of properties seized or confiscated under decrees issued during the war years (such as Law 10, Decree 66, and Decree 42), or those looted in the absence of the rule of law. Digitalization without a comprehensive national framework for settling property disputes and restoring rights to their owners will perpetuate injustice rather than redress it.
Third: The absence of any mechanism for dealing with the properties of the missing and forcibly disappeared, whose numbers are estimated in the tens of thousands. How will their properties be settled? Will their names be listed in the electronic property records as “absent” or “deceased” without any legal basis?
Fourth: The initial phase of the service being limited to only four governorates, with no clear plan for areas that were outside the central government’s control during the years of conflict, such as parts of Aleppo, Idlib, Hasakah, and Raqqa, raises concerns about deepening the divisions in the national real estate registry and creating two classes of citizens: those who can electronically document their ownership and those who cannot.
Based on these issues, the Syrian Future Movement calls on the transitional authorities and relevant bodies to adopt the following criteria before fully implementing the service:
First: Issuing a clear and comprehensive legal framework to regulate electronic real estate registration, respecting the rights of all Syrians regardless of their place of residence, and prohibiting any use of real estate data for political, security, or discriminatory purposes.
Second: Establishing an independent mechanism to resolve real estate disputes resulting from displacement, forced migration, and confiscation. This mechanism should include independent judges and experts, as well as representatives of civil society, and operate with complete transparency.
Third: Guaranteeing the right of displaced Syrians abroad to access services through secure electronic platforms or reliable legal representation, with consular and agency authentications being recognized as valid documents.
Fourth: Obligating the platform’s operators to issue transparent periodic reports on the number of completed transactions, rejected applications and the reasons for rejection, and any complaints related to discrimination or misuse. These reports must be made available to civil society and the media.
Fifth: Immediately expanding the service to include all Syrian governorates, while establishing specific technical and legal mechanisms for areas that were outside central control. These mechanisms must ensure the unification of the national real estate registry without exclusion or injustice.
Sixth: Establishing effective support and grievance channels to receive citizens’ complaints regarding registration errors or access difficulties, guaranteeing the right to appeal before an independent judicial body.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes that building a state of law and institutions cannot be achieved solely through packages of electronic services, but rather through transparent digitization that places human rights at its core, works to redress grievances, and provides equal opportunities for all. The Syrian Future Movement, while closely monitoring the implementation of this service, will work to:
- Monitor any violations or discriminatory practices in its application.
- Provide expert technical and legal insights to ensure a fair digital transition.
- Amplify the voices of displaced and missing Syrians and their families, whose property issues remain a source of national trauma.
In conclusion, the Syrian Future Movement calls upon all Syrians to actively participate in monitoring these new services and to contribute their observations and expertise, because building the new state is everyone’s responsibility and will not be complete without genuine transparency and effective justice.
