At the 3rd Arab Land Conference, HIC-HLRN is organizing a special event to stimulate discussion on the prospects of a regional approach to housing, land and property (HLP) restitution for the millions of Arab displaced persons and refugees. This event, taking place on 20 February 2025, at 13:30 (Rabat time), will begin with an overview of forced displacement across the Arab region and the housing, land and property (HLP) values to be restored, among other entitlements provided in international law. The panelists will present Yemen and Syria as prolonged cases: Arab Youth Sustainable Development Network (Yemen) will present the outcomes of research and consultations with Yemeni displacement victims, civil society and other relevant actors on the impacts of land dispossession both during the previous government of Ali Abdullah Salih and in the context of the ongoing war. Insight (Syria) will present outcomes of research and documentation focused on HLP deprivation in northern and northwest Syria, where foreign militias have dispossessed and demolished HLP and displaced households.

The panelists will present data on the affected persons’, households’ and communities’ costs, losses and damage with proposals for regional cooperation toward remedying this common phenomenon. HIC-HLRN presentations present the applicable international norms for HLP restitution, its global efforts at documenting and quantifying values in 30 other cases by applying quantification methods toward remedy for victims consistent with the UN Remedy and Reparations Framework (A/RES/60/147) and Pinheiro Principles (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/17).

These presentations will culminate in discussion to explore prospects for regional cooperation toward remedying such impacts, as have occurred in other regions such as the Balkans and Africa’s Great Lakes region. To develop this vision, the event will share comparative analysis of other cases as illustrations of the efforts required for HLP restitution for over 45 million refugees and displaced persons across the Arab region.

Speakers

Joseph Schechla, Coordinator, Housing and Land Rights Network – Habitat International Coalition, Egypt

Muhammad al-Yatari, Director, Arab Youth Sustainable Development Network (AYSD), Yemen

Helez Fateh Abdulaziz, Director, Insight Organization, Syria

Ahmed Mansour Ismail, MENA Program, Housing and Land Rights Network – Habitat International Coalition, Egypt

Attend online here