STATELESSNESS IN WADI KHALED: AN INCOMPLETE SUCCESS STORY The 1994 Naturalization Decree is commonly referred to as “Wadi Khaled’s Decree” among Akkar locals. Ironically, a lot of Bedouin from the area were excluded from it. 1,685 • Historically, most of Wadi Khaled’s Bedouin were excluded from the 1932 Census, causing them to remain stateless. Many obtained the Qayd el Dars (understudy) status during the second half of the twentieth century. Stateless people live in Wadi Khaled, which represents • The 1994 Naturalization Decree represented a turning point, allowing a majority of stateless persons in Wadi Khaled to finally acquire citizenship. • But this victory remained mostly partial. According to mukhtars and key informants, around 100 families and individuals could not access the mechanism, while an additional 100 families have failed to register their children at birth since then. These numbers were confirmed through the field surveys: Wadi Khaled’s total stateless population is made up of around 1,700 individuals, thus representing almost half of Akkar’s stateless population. • Among those who fell through the cracks of the 1994 naturalization mechanism, the survey showed that many were actually unaware of its importance, or were unaware of how to initiate the procedure. Some respondents said they were misled by public servants, while others were imprisoned in Syria at the time. • Moreover, stateless individuals who turned 18 in 1994 were de-facto excluded because of a bureaucratic loophole: as minors’ dossiers were filed alongside their parents’, those who happened to turn 18 as the proceedings were initiated were expected to have presented separate requests from their parents, and thus were never included in the process. 48% “ of the total identified stateless population in Akkar I am willing to commit a crime in order to get back the nationality and I don’t mind going to prison if that is in the interest of my child. I would do anything for my child to have a better future than mine”. - Stateless Bedouin father from Wadi Khaled, Halba, March 19 © 2021 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.