July-December 2020 Volume: 10, No: 2, pp. 227 – 243 ISSN: 2046-4436 e-ISSN: 2046-4444 https://journals.tplondon.com/bc Received: 10 June 2020 Accepted: 17 July 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33182/bc.v10i2.1046 Book Review Introduction A suicide attempt by Muhammad Bouazizi in Tunisia in 2010 was the beginning of important social and political developments in the Middle East. The events in the Arab geography aiming at the change of governance and affecting the fundamental dynamics, especially in Egypt, Libya, and Syria, have led to the massive migrations that have impacted almost all countries of the World by going beyond the borders of the countries. This situation has set the groundwork for social and political debates regarding the residence or return of Syrians in Turkey and Lebanon, where they are allowed to passage through the border. However, it is also possible to express that Syrians have built the backdrop of new problems due to their citizenship being idle. The “old1” phrase used by Syrians who remained away from their own country indicates the ambiguous situation of Syria and their old lives. Syrians, who cannot reach the documents they left behind because of the war and now cannot prove that they are Syrian, can face various difficulties in the countries they have migrated. The obligation to renew the passports and identity cards that they have brought along with them and have been deformed over time is a reality that most of the Syrians cannot afford because of cost and security reasons. As a result of these components and loaded negative arguments, the definition of Syrian used for Syrians staying in foreign states today does not go beyond responsibilities and sanctions for certain individuals. With a reverse reading, citizenship emerges as the starting point of the bond and mutual responsibility established between individuals and the State. In a study conducted by UNHCR (2015, p. 15), stateless children were asked to identify themselves, then they often identified themselves with an adjective that contains negativity such as ‘invisible’, ‘strangers’, ‘keeping a low profile’, ‘worthless’ and ’a stray dog’, reflecting their point of view towards themselves. Because individuals who have settled in the territory of other countries by migrating from Syria and citizenship is reserved via the father as required by Syria’s own constitution, the emergence of sociological problems as well as various legal problems are seen today. The UN (1954, p. 6), defines a stateless person as one “who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. This definition deprives the individual of fundamental rights and prevents the individual from imposing the responsibility of any State. In this respect, “Statelessness is not merely a legal problem, but it is a human problem” (Batchelor, 1998, p. 159). That is why statelessness becomes the source of the problems that individuals will experience in the future. The absence of an individual’s commitment to a State or not being registered to a State means that he/she is deprived of important fundamental rights such as education, health, and travel. This situation, which resembles a flag-free ship in the middle of the sea (Altuğ, 1963, p. 202), always carries individuals 1 https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2014/10/23/the-loss-of-a-nation Border Crossing Transnational Press London