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Tough Conditions Make It Hard for Yarmouk Residents to Return Home

A general view showing the destruction in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus, April 6, 2015. (AFP/STR)
A general view showing the destruction in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus, April 6, 2015. (AFP/STR)
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Tough Conditions Make It Hard for Yarmouk Residents to Return Home

A general view showing the destruction in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus, April 6, 2015. (AFP/STR)
A general view showing the destruction in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus, April 6, 2015. (AFP/STR)

Syrian authorities began issuing security approvals for a new batch of Palestinian refugees who wish to return to their homes in al-Yarmouk camp, given that they meet the required conditions.

A Palestinian resident of Yarmouk said she only wants to return to her home in the camp. She recalled her family's suffering in paying high rents and moving between houses.

The Palestinian woman, who was asked to review a security branch to study her request, complained that she did not know why her request was rejected.

“I want to return [to the camp] even if to set up a tent over the rubble of my house.”

Palestinian civil sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that a number of families have received approvals to return and they were provided with houses' unit numbers from the Military Security Unit in Damascus.

Palestinian refugees of the Yarmouk camp should submit their identification papers and officially certified property deeds to the Unit to obtain the security approval allowing them to reside in the camp.

Damascus Provincial Directorate announced that it is now only accepting certified title deeds as proof of ownership, while it used to recognize copies of these deeds earlier.

Residents of Yarmouk camp planning to return home said that the new conditions are complicated and “insuperable,” such as the acknowledgment of responsibility for the structural integrity of the dwelling, a pledge to remove rubble of the property within two months of receiving it, paying previous bills, and the undertaking to obtain an official license to restore the property.

The sources indicated that over 2,500 people applied to return to the camp when the governorate announced it was receiving requests for conditional return in November last year.

About 1,200 applications were accepted, while the rest were rejected because the houses are not suitable for residence.

Requests were then transferred to the Military Security Branch for security approvals after all conditions were met, with only 500 allowed to return.

Member of the Executive Office of the Damascus Provincial Directorate, Samir Jazaerli confirmed that 500 requests were approved out of the 1,200.

Jazaerli explained that the applications met the three requisites including structural safety, ownership proof, and the ability to obtain necessary security permits.

An additional 400 families returned to their homes in Yarmouk before the process officially started on November 10, he added.

The Yarmouk camp was established in 1957 about eight kilometers south of Damascus and it is the largest gathering of Palestinian refugees in the region.

Its population was estimated at more than 150,000 people in 2010, 112,550 of whom are registered refugees with UNRWA, and by the end of 2014, it dropped to only 20,000 residents.

After the emergence of ISIS in the camp, the remaining civilians left Yarmouk until the Syrian regime regained control in 2018 after which more than 70 percent returned.

As Syrian authorities began issuing a new batch of security approvals, the "Action Group for Palestinians of Syria” called upon shop owners in the camp to submit requests for their stores.

The Group pointed out that 400 families currently living in the Yarmouk camp suffer from a scarcity of basic services, especially that there are no shops in the camp or electricity.

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What Has Assad’s Fall Revealed about the Captagon Drug Trade in Syria?

A Syrian member of the opposition shows amphetamine pills known as Captagon hidden inside an electrical component at a warehouse where the drug was manufactured before the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government at a facility in Douma city, outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
A Syrian member of the opposition shows amphetamine pills known as Captagon hidden inside an electrical component at a warehouse where the drug was manufactured before the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government at a facility in Douma city, outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
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What Has Assad’s Fall Revealed about the Captagon Drug Trade in Syria?

A Syrian member of the opposition shows amphetamine pills known as Captagon hidden inside an electrical component at a warehouse where the drug was manufactured before the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government at a facility in Douma city, outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
A Syrian member of the opposition shows amphetamine pills known as Captagon hidden inside an electrical component at a warehouse where the drug was manufactured before the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government at a facility in Douma city, outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)

Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, industrial-scale manufacturing facilities of Captagon have been uncovered around the country, which experts say helped flourish a $10 billion annual global trade in the highly addictive drug.

Among the locations used for manufacturing the drug were the Mazzeh air base in Damascus, a car-trading company in Latakia and a former potato chips factory on the outskirts of Damascus.

The factory that once produced the crunchy snack in the suburb of Douma under the name, Captain Corn, was seized by government forces in 2018.

"Assad’s collaborators controlled this place. After the regime fell... I came here and found it on fire," Firas al-Toot, the original owner of the factory, told The Associated Press. "They came at night and lit the drugs on fire but couldn’t burn everything."

"From here, Captagon pills emerged to kill our people," said Abu Zihab, an activist with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main group now ruling the country, as his group gave access to journalists to the site.

Syria's nearly 14-year-old civil war fragmented the country, crumbled the economy and created fertile ground for the production of the drug. Militias, warlords and the Assad government transformed Captagon from a small-scale operation run by small criminal groups into a billion-dollar industrial revenue stream.

The recent ousting of Assad has disrupted these networks and has given a closer look at its operations — revealing the workings of a war economy that sustained Assad’s power over Syria. Experts say the change in Syria might create an opportunity to dismantle the Captagon industry.

How did Syria build its Captagon empire?

Captagon was first developed in Germany in the 1960s as a prescription stimulant for conditions like narcolepsy. It was later outlawed due to heart issues and its addictive properties.

Its amphetamine-like effects made it popular in the Middle East among both elites and fighters, as it enhanced focus and reduced fatigue.

Assad's government recognized an opportunity in the cheaply manufactured drug amid Syria’s economic turmoil and the heavy sanctions imposed on it.

Captagon is produced through a simple chemical process that involves mixing amphetamine derivatives with excipients to form tablets, typically in makeshift labs.

The Captagon trade began industrializing around 2018-2019 as the Assad regime — and other armed groups in Syria -- invested in production facilities, warehouses and trafficking networks. This allowed Syria to emerge as the largest producer of Captagon globally, with some production also occurring in Lebanon.

Most seized consignments of Captagon originated from Syria, according to data by the New Lines Captagon Trade Project, an initiative of the New Lines Institute think tank.

Evidence of the Assad regime’s sponsorship of the Captagon industry is overwhelming, the report published in May said. The Security Office of the 4th Armored Division of the Syrian Arab Army, headed by Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher oversaw operations and created a coordinated production system, the report added.

Where and how was Captagon smuggled?

Captagon was smuggled across the border using various methods, hiding Captagon in trucks, cargo shipments and goods. Some shipments are concealed in food, electronics and construction materials to evade detection.

The primary smuggling routes were Syria’s porous borders with Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, from which the drug is distributed throughout the region. Some were also shipped from Latakia port.

In Lebanon, the Captagon trade has flourished, particularly near the Syrian border and in the Bekaa Valley. Lebanese authorities struggled to curb the flow of Captagon from Syria, which analysts say was facilitated by the Hezbollah group, a key Assad ally.

Following the discovery of crates of fruit meticulously packed with bundles of the drug hidden among pomegranates and oranges, Saudi Arabia and the UAE implemented bans on Lebanese agricultural products.

Captagon has also found its way into international markets, reaching as far as Southeast Asia and parts of Europe.

How much revenue did it produce for the Assad regime?

The annual global trade in Captagon has an estimated value of $10 billion, with the ousted Assad family's annual profit reaching around $2.4 billion, according to Caroline Rose, director of the New York-based New Lines Institute Captagon Trade Project.

"Seeing the uncovering of so many industrial-scale facilities affiliated with the regime was shocking but not surprising. There was extensive evidence linking key regime-aligned cronies and Assad family members to the trade," said Rose, whose organization tracks all publicly recorded Captagon seizures and lab raids. The discovery of the facilities, she said, confirmed "the concrete relationship between Captagon and the former regime."

The exact number of factories in Syria remains unclear, but experts and HTS members estimate that there are likely hundreds spread throughout the country.

The future of Captagon in post-Assad Syria

Assad has turned Syria into "the largest Captagon factory in the world," HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa stated in a victory speech at Damascus’s Umayyad Mosque on Dec. 8. "Today, Syria is being cleansed, thanks to the grace of Almighty God."

While Assad and his circle may have been the primary beneficiaries, there is also evidence that Syrian opposition groups were involved in drug smuggling, opposition groups, local militias and organized crime networks manufactured and smuggled the drug to finance their operations, analysts say.

"Likely, we will see a short-term supply reduction in the trade, with a decline in the size and frequency of seizures as industrial-scale production is largely halted. However, criminal actors are innovative, likely seeking out new locations to engage in production and smuggling, particularly as demand levels remain stable," Rose said.

They may also "seek out alternative illicit trades to engage in instead," she said.

In addition to dismantling the Captagon trade, the country's transitional government should "establish programs for economic development that will incentivize Syrians to participate in the country’s formal, licit economic sphere," Rose said.