Under a warm autumn sun in Al Ghassaniyeh, Abdallah Ibrahim stoops to pick hard green olives, savoring a simple pleasure denied to him for 14 years. He and most of his village fled during the civil war after artillery and barrel bombs made life impossible. Some people stayed through the rise of Sunni Islamist groups; others left after the village priest was killed. Ibrahim is one of millions uprooted by the conflict — among roughly 7.4 million Syrians displaced inside the country and about 6 million who went abroad — and he returned home after the old regime fell last December.
Many who have come back have been stunned to discover strangers living in their houses. While some occupants are fellow Syrians displaced by fighting, a large number are foreign fighters who moved into empty homes as front lines shifted. Occupants have included men from Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Morocco and other countries, and thousands of ethnic Uyghurs who left China. Some fighters say commanders told them to take abandoned properties as a reward for helping seize territory.
Ibrahim found his stone-and-concrete house standing but occupied. Women in full niqabs were living inside and male fighters around the village rarely spoke Arabic, so communication was limited. He also noticed that many fruit trees had been uprooted and that the olive groves below the village were being harvested by the newcomers. He says it felt impossible to live side by side with those who had taken his home.
Sorting out ownership after years of violence has become a pressing task for the authorities. The new government has encouraged refugees abroad to return, but resolving internal displacement and property claims is equally important to reassure minority communities — Christians and Shiites among them — that their rights will be restored.
In some places local commanders and the new state have worked to relocate foreign occupants. In Al Ghassaniyeh, which has some 4,000 residents, Uyghur commanders spent months finding alternative housing for hundreds of Uyghur families who had settled in vacant properties, a difficult effort amid rising rents since the war ended. Fighters interviewed there said they respected the claims of original owners and would leave if homeowners returned, stressing that Syria was not their homeland and that other communities already lived there.
But fear and mistrust persist. Some residents, especially from minority groups, say neighbors who adopted hardline Salafi beliefs no longer welcome them. Denise Khoury, 75, found foreign fighters in her mother’s house in Jisr al-Shughur and fears that ideological changes among locals have made coexistence impossible.
Complicating restitution are actions taken during the war: property sales carried out on behalf of absent owners, forged or improperly transferred deeds, and new buildings erected by occupants. Real estate agents and municipal officials say chaotic record-keeping and wartime improvisation created disputes that the state now must untangle. Where occupants improved or built on land, the authorities face dilemmas over compensation or rehousing.
Mediators — including clergy — have played a major role in resolving conflicts. Local priests and other community leaders have helped negotiate temporary arrangements, such as permitting occupants to stay through the olive harvest in return for a share of the crop. In some cases deals split the yield with occupants taking two-thirds and owners one-third until a deadline.
Christian leaders separately sought guarantees from armed figures earlier in the conflict. In 2022 a Christian parish met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, then a militia leader who later became president, and was promised restoration of rights. Louay Bisharat, a priest involved in those discussions, says officials acknowledged Christians’ claims and began recovering churches and lands in meetings with current officials, including foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani.
In Al Ghassaniyeh, negotiations overseen by authorities eventually allowed many owners, including Ibrahim, to reclaim houses and land. The village marked returns with music and drumming; some buildings still bear war damage and graffiti, but families have started to rebuild. Ibrahim was able to harvest some olives this year after reaching an agreement with those who had worked his land.
Despite local successes, the nationwide task remains immense: restoring property to rightful owners, adjudicating disputed deeds, and finding fair ways to compensate or rehouse those who settled during the war. For Syria’s minorities, credible guarantees that homes will be returned are central to whether they will come back and help rebuild their communities.