Satisfaction with life in KRI versus life in Syria While the KRI legal framework commendably grants ajanib and maktoumeen the same rights and protections as Syrian citizens, this does not eliminate future potential citizenship issues for stateless Syrian Kurds. Both maktoumeen and ajanib remarked that displacement in KRI had offered them the first opportunity to hold state-issued identification and that distinctions within the Syrian community had largely disappeared in KRI. Many FGD participants remarked that the political and economic limitations that had defined life inside Syria for maktoumeen and ajanib as compared to Syrian citizens—the limited access to public services, and education and employment opportunities and prohibition on owning land and, for maktoumeen, the travel restrictions do not exist in KRI, where the community enjoys the same rights and faces common challenges. Ajanib survey respondents noted that their access to health and education services in KRI had improved compared to Syria; however, their ability to access employment still remained challenging in Dohuk. Maktoumeen also reported significant improvements in freedom of movement and accessing health and education services, while also noting barriers to securing income in KRI. A maktouma Kurdish woman from Al-Hasakeh explained that the missing education documentation—a result of policies excluding maktoumeen and unregistered ajanib from the formal education system in Syria-- meaning that there is little hope of improved outcomes in KRI. “Our children still don’t have a future. They can only listen in classes and can’t get credit for the work that they do. They won’t be able to do anything later in life, even if they stay in school,” she said. Ajanib and maktoumeen emphasized the limited vocational opportunities in KRI. While this is a plight faced by both stateless and citizen Syrian Kurdish refugees, ajanib and maktoumeen, who were excluded from educational and economic opportunities in Syria, come with fewer base resources with which to establish themselves in displacement. The majority of stateless Syrians intend to remain in KRI, but a significant portion intend to travel onwards to a third country The majority of stateless Syrian Kurds intend to remain in KRI for the immediate term—61 percent of maktoumeen and 86 percent of ajanib Syrian Kurds indicated they intend to remain. Respondents noted the availability of legal residency in KRI and the high degree of social and cultural integration as factors in the decision to stay. Findings 11 14