Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Syria conflict. As a result, the types of documentation an individual or family possess may have significantly changed over time. There is also a high chance of documentation having been lost without the option to obtain new documents.108 Depending on their date of arrival in Syria, some Palestinian refugees were issued a travel document and a temporary residency card. The travel document is only available to those registered with the General Authority for Palestinian and Arab Refugees (GAPAR), meaning those who entered Syria in 1948 or before 1956. Similarly, the Temporary Residency Card, a formal proof of identity used for official purposes and everyday use, is also only available to those registered with GAPAR. Both documents are issued by the Ministry of Interior, Palestinian Registrar.109 In most of the Arab world, Palestinians are excluded from obtaining nationality. This is a result of the interpretation of the League of Arab States Protocol for the Treatment of Palestinians in Arab States (The Casablanca Protocol), adopted on 11 September 1965. The protocol sets out rights to be enjoyed by Palestinian refugees in host countries but indicates that this treatment should be provided to Palestinians “whilst retaining their Palestinian nationality.”110 This has resulted in a policy of non-naturalisation of Palestinians in countries across the Middle East and North Africa and has left generations of Palestinians with no nationality.111 Prior to the conflict in Syria, over half a million Palestinians resided there without access to naturalisation. Their status has made their situation inside Syria, and the situation for those now displaced outside Syria, particularly vulnerable. Children born to Palestinian refugees from Syria who are displaced may fall through the gaps in different registration systems, as it may not be possible to be added to the UNRWA Damascus family records. In order to add a child to their UNRWA records, a Palestinian refugee from Syria must go through the office in Syria where the parents were initially recorded. This can be a complicated procedure and is often impossible when a family is displaced in a neighbouring country.112 5.2.2 The Human Rights Situation for Palestinian Refugees from Syria The rights enjoyed by Palestinian refugees from Syria are different depending on their date of arrival in Syria. According to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Palestinians who arrived in Syria prior to 1956 enjoyed more rights than those who arrived afterwards.113 Despite this, they were still excluded from accessing Syrian nationality. Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and The Norwegian Refugee Council (2016) ‘Understanding Statelessness in the Syria Refugee Context: Research Report’ [online] available at: http://www.syrianationality.org/pdf/report.pdf 109 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion / Norwegian Refugee Council, Understanding statelessness in the Syria refugee context, 2016, at 9, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584021494.html. For further information on documentation in Syria, see: Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion / Norwegian Refugee Council, Syriannationality.org – Syrian Documents, 2016, available at: http://www.syrianationality.org/index.php?id=21. 110 League of Arab States, Protocol for the Treatment of Palestinians in Arab States, 1965 [online] abailable at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/460a2b252.html 111 L. Van Waas, A Comparaive Analysis of Nationality Laws in the MENA region, 2014 [online] available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2493718 112 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion / European Network on Statelessness, From Syria to Europe: Experiences of Stateless Kurds and Palestinian Refugees from Syria Seeking Protection in Europe, January 2019, at 47, available at: http://www.institutesi.org/from_Syria_to_Europe.pdf. 113 Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Thematic Report on Conditions in Syria, 23 October 2017, at 3.8, available at: https://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/Documents/country-information-report-syria.pdf 108 19