AVOIDING TROUBLES Despite bearing social characteristics traditionally known to lead to violence and radicalization (low education, high unemployment, no legal personality), the stateless in Akkar, like in Tripoli, manage the push and pull factors that encourage these behaviors. • The context in Akkar is very different than Tripoli when it comes to the attitudes and behavior of the stateless. According to the findings in Tripoli, “the higher the number of stateless persons in the family, and the higher the sense of marginalization and deprivation of basic rights, the bigger the temptation for fraudulent behavior as a coping mechanism, and the greater likelihood of violence”. • For instance, 19% of stateless respondents in Akkar said they had been arrested at least once (mostly men with 65%). This is much less than in Tripoli (35%). Among those arrested in Akkar, 40% (equivalent of 8% of the survey’s sample), overwhelmingly men, said they were subjected to mistreatment, including insults and humiliation, with some reporting beating and ill-treatment by the security services. • Interestingly, out of these 19% (112 respondents), only 3% faced drug issues in the past year, 7% faced street or domestic violence, and 13% had quarreled with the security forces. These rates, when considered alongside the qualitative information gathered in the field and the fact that 75% of those arrested said they are scared of checkpoints, suggest that most arrests of the stateless in Akkar take place at checkpoints. • Despite their various obstacles and fears, the stateless in Akkar reject fraudulent practices, such as borrowing someone’s identity document to cross a checkpoint (85%), or to access medical care in an emergency (66%). 89% would never register their stateless children on someone else’s civil record 66% would not borrow an identity card to address a medical emergency 85% would not borrow an identity card to pass through checkpoints © 2021 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.