Plans to Convert Damascus Military Airfield into Private Jet Hub Ignite Grave and Land Rights Controversy
Syrian officials aim to redesign the Mezzeh military airport for private jet use, sparking warnings from rights groups and locals that construction could disturb suspected mass graves and ignore longstanding private land claims.
Syria’s civil aviation authority is preparing to reclassify the Mezzeh military airport on the outskirts of Damascus for limited civilian traffic, focusing on private and executive jets. Documents obtained by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre reveal that the base served as an execution site for detainees during the Assad era, with suspected mass-grave locations identified on the premises. Residents assert that the 2.76-sq-km site was built on land seized from private owners in 1956 without compensation, and they have staged protests demanding a share in any investment.
The United Nations’ land-rights experts have urged the government to suspend redevelopment until property claims and missing-persons investigations are resolved. Officials from the civil aviation authority, the National Commission for Missing Persons and the defense ministry have not responded to inquiries about the graves or land disputes. The controversy highlights the tension between Syria’s push for foreign investment and the unresolved legacy of forced disappearances and expropriations.
Why it matters
It reveals the clash between Syria's investment drive and unresolved human-rights and property-rights legacies.
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