Collateral Damage

During a war, unintentional damage is caused to homes, hospitals, schools, as well as cultural heritage. Unfortunately, some ancient buildings are reused with no supervision, often illegally. Many ancient castles were reused in the conflict in Syria as they have retained their vantage over the local area, and their strong walls. For example, Qal’at al-Shmemis (also known as Selemiye or Salamyeh) in Syria, occupies a prominent position on a mound. According to reports, troops took over the castle in 2012, digging new roads around it, seen on these satellite images on Google Earth, which show the castle in 2010, 2012 and 2014 (Figure 1). Such occupation can make the site into a target: in Aleppo some historic buildings were used as military barracks, and so they were blown up.

Figure 1: Qal’at al-Shmemis, Syria.

Reoccupation is not always carried out by the military. As the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa stretch on, many people have been forced to flee their homes and have been placed in refugee camps. Some of these camps are now becoming permanent settlements with roads, a market street, and even coffee shops.

According to a satellite imagery assessment carried out by UNOSAT, the United Nations’ satellite imagery analysts, several of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, some of which are part of the World Heritage Site, have been re-occupied by refugees, such as Shinshara and Rabi’ah. Damage includes new building using materials such as concrete, the digging of holes for rubbish and sewage, increased looting and stone robbing, and wear and tear of the ancient buildings.

The oldest UN refugee camp was built in 1948, and the people in it still dream of returning home. One new refugee camp is Zataari, in Jordan (Slideshow 1, Figure 1), which at its peak (July 2013) was estimated to house 144,000 people, although the 2015 estimate is nearer 83,000.

Figure 1: A 2009 aerial photograph (APAAME_20091019_DLK-0214 Jimal Stone Circle 2, Jimal Kite 3) shows two of the features now built over by the camp.

Slideshow 1 (below): Two images of the Zataari are presented. In the first, several stone enclosures and kites (drystone-walled areas for hunting animals) are visible on DigitalGlobe image satellite imagery from 2004. These structures were cleared to make way for the camp, seen in the 2014 DigitalGlobe image.