HLP Issues in Informal Settlements and Collective Centres in Northern Syria - Arabic Version

The purpose of this Guidance Note is to increase knowledge and understanding of housing, land and property (HLP) issues in informal camps/settlements and collective centres in the northern part of the Syrian Arab Republic, with an emphasis on the situation in areas outside of Government control in the Deir Hassan Cluster (Idleb Governorate) and Azaz sub district (Aleppo Governorate). The majority of existing material regarding informal settlements and collective centres reference the need to ensure that housing, land and property issues are addressed, but offer little guidance on how to do so. In part, this is because HLP issues are quite context specific, and it is thus difficult to offer blanket guidance on how to handle them. What guidance there is, is also targeted towards planned (“formal”) camps, with little written frameworks on how to cope with HLP challenges in self-settled or informal camps and collective centres that are more prevalent in Syria. This guidance therefore aims to offer practical information and tools to humanitarian practitioners and others working with IDPs in Northern Syria, on how to identify and address HLP issues during the course of humanitarian programming, in particular as it relates to HLP rights for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in need of shelter assistance.

This guidance also seeks to provide more clarity regarding: ownership and usage rights over land used for camps /informal settlements and collective centres; rental or other arrangements between owners, de facto local authorities and camp managers, and potential gatekeepers to HLP and other services in camps and collective centres. The guidance can be used by a broad range of humanitarian and other actors delivering assistance and services in northern Syria, as they navigate the existing complex HLP arrangements and the implications they have for IDPs’ security of tenure and other rights and protections.