STATLESSNESS LEXICON This study relies upon a technical lexicon specific to the statelessness phenomenon in general and relating to the Lebanese context in particular. Mukhtar (Town Officer) A local elected official at a neighborhood level in charge of processing formal procedures for citizens, residents and stateless people vis-a-vis central authorities . Its office and duties are regulated by the Mukhtar Law enacted in 1947 and amended in 1997 An identification document granted by mukhtars to Lebanese stateless. The criteria for granting them are arbitrary and discretionarily set by the mukhtars (Land which follows the Ottoman estate system) Land considered commonly owned by people in the area, mostly in rural regions. Today, large portions of these lands are still not registered under any official cadaster Identification documents (granted by mukhtars) Ta’arif card Macha’at Ta’arif certificate An updated form of the ta’arif card (with a photo) after the latter was banned by the Ministry of Interior. It is a template created by governors and used by Mukhtars who grant them as identification document for persons whose legal status is problematic, such as Lebanese stateless Source: • Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 1954, Article 1 • Akoum, R. (2021). Registering Stateless Lebanese in Civil Registry Records, 1st ed.. © 2021 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.