Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Syria In late 2017, Syria responded to criticisms of the discriminatory Nationality Law by stating, “There are no stateless children in the Syrian Arab Republic.”23 It also stated that “...Granting nationality to children of Syrian mothers married to non-Syrians, Article 3 of the Nationality Act is currently being reviewed and great efforts are being made to ensure that children of Syrian mothers may obtain nationality. The General Women’s Federation24 has drafted a bill for the amendment of that article under which women would pass on their nationality to their offspring. The bill is currently being examined.”25 In a subsequent statement, Syria stated, “…the crisis affecting the Syrian Arab Republic has delayed discussion on the subject and the enactment of a relevant law.”26 Despite these attempts to remove the discriminatory provisions, the law, as it was originally drafted in 1969, remains in place today. In concluding remarks about the fifth periodic report of Syria, the Committee on the Rights of the Child stated that it “is very concerned about… Syrian women still not being able to transfer their nationality to their children, which due to the armed conflict may exponentially increase the number of stateless children.” 27 The Committee urged Syria to “consider ratifying” the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.28 It also urged Syria to “review its legislation to implement gender-equitable measures regarding civil documentation allowing women to be the legal guardians of their children and promptly adopt the draft amendment to Article 3 of the Nationality Law allowing Syrian women to transmit nationality to their children on an equal basis with Syrian men.” 29 In Syria, attempts to reform the Nationality Law by removing gender discriminatory provisions have also been rejected on the basis that they are incompatible with Sharia Law.30 3.2 Failure to Prevent Childhood Statelessness Syria’s Nationality Law does contain some safeguards against statelessness at birth. According to the law, nationality is conferred to a child born in Syria of unknown parents (including foundlings), parents of unknown nationality or stateless parents (Article 3(c)), as well as a child who acquires no other nationality (Article 3(d)). However, these safeguards are not systematically implemented. UNHCR stated in March 2019, “Syria has a safeguard in place to prevent statelessness among children born in the territory but it is not clear that this is implemented in practice.”31 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Fifth periodic report submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic, 1 November 2017, at 63, available at: https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/CRC/C/SYR/5 24 The General Women’s Federation and the General Women’s Union are used interchangeably. 25 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Fifth periodic report submitted by the Syrian Arab Republic, 1 November 2017, at 67, available at: https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/CRC/C/SYR/5 26 Committee on the Rights of the Child, List of issues in relation to the fifth periodic report of the Syrian Arab Republic – Addendum - Replies of the Syrian Arab Republic to the list of issues, 9 November 2018, at 3, available at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1226&Lang=en 27 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the Syrian Arab Republic, CRC/C/SYR/CO/5, 6 March 2019, at 6, available at: https://undocs.org/CRC/C/SYR/CO/5. 28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 30 Open Democracy, Why are so many Syrian children being left stateless?, 1 July 2015, available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/why-are-so-many-syrian-children-being-left-stateless/, where it was stated, “…Parliament voted against this amendment in 2008, arguing that such an amendment would be contrary to Sharia law, based on the interpretation that a child’s identity originates from the father’s name and nationality.” Also see: Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 26th Session of the Universal Periodic Review – Syrian Arab Republic, March 2016, at 14, available at: https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=3077&file=EnglishTranslation. 31 UNHCR, Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness 2019, 8 March 2019, at 7, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5c8120847.html 23 7