Residents of the "North Al-Sikka neighborhood" in Raqqa protest against an organizational project that threatens to demolish their homes
Dozens of residents of Raqqa province, especially residents of the "North of Sikkah" area of the city, came out in a protest demonstration against the launch of an organizational project that threatens to demolish hundreds of residential houses in order to settle regulatory violations.
The protesters demanded an immediate halt to the eviction orders issued by the governorate, while preserving the rights and property of the residents and providing clear alternatives that directly secure their stability.
Some of the chants in the demonstration called for the "overthrow of the governor" and sharply criticized the administrative authorities in the governorate for their continuous absence from the scene for almost a month
Demonstration against demolition and eviction
In details, the city of Raqqa witnessed widespread demonstrations led by the people of the North Sikka area, as an expression of the categorical and permanent rejection of the decisions and measures taken against their neighborhood, where the participants raised angry slogans and banners denouncing the reorganization plan and considering it a direct threat to their living and residential security.
The demonstrators chanted massive slogans, the most prominent of which was "The people want to overthrow the governor", sending a clear message of the need to immediately reverse the demolition and displacement decisions, stressing the importance of protecting their private properties and finding just alternative settlements and solutions that take into account the harsh living and social conditions of the residents.
On May 3, Raqqa witnessed similar protests in which dozens of people participated in rejecting the decisions to remove houses and slums, while local activists reported that the number of houses to be demolished is close to 4,000 houses, extending from the Horse Roundabout to the silo area.
Accusations of administrative negligence
The participants in the demonstration criticized the failure of the administrative officials in the governorate to follow up on citizens' complaints about the new organization project, especially in the northern area of the Sikka area, or to clarify the background of the matter.
Civil society activists in the governorate called for immediate action to manage this hot file away from the policies of procrastination and absenteeism, through the formation of specialized committees that go down to the ground and open channels of direct dialogue with the residents, to ensure that the points are put on the letters and to provide official solutions that prevent the exploitation of the anger of the street.
The participants in the demonstration stressed that the continued absence of official communication and the language of frankness will only lead to deepening the trust gap and increasing the level of tension and escalation on the ground, pointing out that the only way to a solution is based on the governorate's natural role in listening to the street and meeting the demands within the official and legitimate frameworks.
A local source following up on the file explained that the city of Raqqa and its surrounding areas are experiencing administrative and security complexities resulting from the overlapping areas of influence and control, as the administrative and service side continuously seeks to activate organizational plans under the pretext of removing urban deformities and war slums, but the absence of budgets allocated for compensation and housing alternatives is met with widespread popular rejection from residents who have built their homes in harsh conditions of displacement and over many decades.