Addressing statelessness in the Syria refugee context

Case studies

This section presents a series of six case studies, each based on real-life situations identified in the research undertaken for this project . They serve to illustrate some of the challenges faced in the region in terms of the interaction between statelessness and displacement from Syria. The case studies are designed to help you to understand how such issues may present themselves in practice, to diagnose the problem and to think about possible solutions. Guiding questions are provided to assist with either self-study or in using (a selection of) these case studies within a training session, for instance to brainstorm what concrete response might be pursued if such a case presented itself in a particular host country context.

General refugee population

Since 2011, more than 300,000 children have been born in exile. For them, access to birth registration is vital because it provides evidence of their identity, their family links and – if born to a Syrian father – their Syrian nationality. Various factors can impede access to birth registration for refugee families in the host countries. Two examples are given in the case studies below: Khaloud and Yahya are each trying to register the birth of a child, but face certain challenges.

Use the following questions as a guide to assess what the problem is in each of the cases and to think about what action could be taken:

What key messages are important when seeking to facilitate access to birth registration?
What is the main impediment to accessing birth registration in the case?
Are there any complicating factors?
Which stakeholders have a role to play?
What action could be explored to help solve the problem?
How can such cases be prevented or mitigated more generally among the Syrian refugee population?

Khaloud

Khaloud has been a refugee since 2012. She was registered with UNHCR and knew she was entitled to free healthcare for her pregnancy and birth, but at the time of the birth she was confused as to which hospital she should go to obtain the free healthcare. She ended up in a private hospital, where she gave birth to a healthy boy. When she was making preparations to leave, the hospital administration handed her a large bill. She did not have that money, but she was told that she was not entitled to free healthcare there and she could not see her baby until she paid. She said that she felt she had no other choice than to take her baby boy and run away from the hospital. In doing this, she never got the birth notification. When she went to the birth registration office, they advised her to go back to the hospital to obtain the notification. However, she knows that if she does, they will demand payment before they give it to her.

Yahya

Yahya did not register the birth of his daughter before the one-year deadline. He decided to falsify the birth date of his daughter in order for her to be considered younger than one year. He paid a broker a significant amount to produce a birth notification that would reduce his daughter’s age by a full year. However, he was still unable to obtain a birth certificate as his marriage was not registered.

Refugees at heightened risk of statelessness

Within any given (refugee) population, some people can be identified as facing a heightened risk of statelessness due to their circumstances and the social, political or legal context. Ensuring that they are not left stateless can require tailored prevention activities. Two examples of so-called ‘heightened-risk’ profiles are given in the below case studies of Fakhriya and Noor.

Use the following questions as a guide to assess what the problem is in each of the cases and to think about what action could be taken:

What key messages are important when seeking to mitigate the risk of statelessness in cases such as these?
Why is there a heightened risk of statelessness in each of the cases?
Are there any complicating factors?
Which stakeholders have a role to play?
What action could be explored to help improve the situation?
How can such cases be identified and mitigated more generally among the Syrian refugee population?

Fakhriya

When Fakhriya asks her eldest son, now four, where he comes from, he smiles and says “Dar’a”. He has never been to Dar’a before, he was born a refugee in a neighbouring country, but he believes that is where his Syrian father is, and that is where he will eventually grow up. A mother of three living in a small apartment as an urban refugee, Fakhriya is worried about her children for many reasons. They have been displaced, removed from everything they know, and they are faced with many of the problems that challenge a refugee family. In addition to these challenges, her children are not registered, they have no documents, and she has no idea where their father is. She worries her children will remain unregistered, without any documents. She worries that she will eventually be unable to prove that her children are Syrian nationals.

Noor

Dar’a was a city that was central to the civil registration process in the district which it covers, but also, since the onset of the conflict, a hotspot for fighting. For Noor, registration of her marriage in 2012 would have had to take place in Dar’a. She lived just outside the city but due to the conflict, was unable to go to the registry office to apply for the new family booklet or any other document. Because of this, her marriage to her husband, who has remained in Syria while she fled a few months ago, has not been recorded anywhere. She is pregnant.

Stateless Refugees

Some refugees are already stateless. Their lack of nationality may have been a cause of their displacement or, in a situation of generalised violence or conflict, it may simply be that the existing stateless population are displaced as well as others (perhaps even more readily due to their vulnerability and lack of alternatives in country). In the context of the Syria regional refugee response, it is important to acknowledge that there was already a stateless population in Syria prior to the conflict. The case studies of Khalid and Lamia below offer examples of the situation of stateless refugees from Syria.

Use the following questions as a guide to assess what the problem is in each of the cases and to think about what action could be taken:

Why can it be important to pay attention to whether a refugee is also stateless?
What is the profile of the stateless refugee in each of these cases?
What problems do the refugees in each case face, in which their statelessness is playing a part?
Which stakeholders have a role to play?
What action could be explored to help improve the situation?
How can such cases be identified and addressed more structurally among the Syrian refugee population?

Khalid

Khalid, a stateless Kurd now living in a refugee camp was never registered in Syria, the same as his father. When Khalid’s own son was born in exile, he didn’t attempted to register the birth as he believed that the family did not have the required documents needed to access the civil registration system. He had been able to obtain the birth notification from the health authority as they are registered with UNHCR and therefore the mother was able to give birth in a public hospital. However, he had not tried to take the next steps in the registration process, as some of his neighbours in the same position as him had failed to register their children. He possesses a Taaref document but had heard that this was not accepted by the authorities. His child was born in 2014, so the one year deadline for birth registration has now long passed.

Lamia

Lamia lives in a Palestinian camp in a neighbouring country to Syria. She is not registered with either the UN or the host state. A few months ago, Lamia witnessed her neighbour who tried to obtain employment in the capital, being caught and deported back to the Syrian border because she was Palestinian. This scared Lamia has made her hesitant to approach any organisation or government authority. Lamia’s husband, who is in the same situation as her, is wanted by the government in Syria (he was seen to be affiliated to the opposition forces) and her main concern is ensuring her family can stay in Jordan. Lamia’s eldest daughter is engaged and will be married soon.