The Syrian Initiative to Combat Statelessness 28 Women’s Testimonials 19 | Maryam “I got rid of my marriage certificate when the city was liberated, due to fear of being accused of having dealt with the Islamic State (ISIS), as it was issued by the organization’s court. And so I had no evidence of my marriage, but the community still considered me and my child as part of the Islamic State, even after the liberation of our city and the disappearance of my husband. The fact that I was forced by my family to marry him was not enough to spare me from those looks of blame and suspicion.” “I tried to benefit from the establishment of a Civil Registry after the liberation of the city to register my daughter in the records, but they did not agree and required a “security study of my child and I”, but their security study concluded that the child is a foreigner’s daughter and should also be treated as a foreigner. This has deprived us of the assistance provided by civil society organizations, which require a family statement to provide any assistance to me or my child. It is also the case for human rights organizations that have often tried to help find solutions for me and my child, but to no avail.” “I always think about my daughter’s future and I fear that she will spend her days without getting any recognized papers proving her identity, and I always wonder why I can’t give her my surname, lineage and nationality, so that she can live her life like other children. Why?” | Fatima “I have always been accused by those around me, as if I am the only culprit in the birth of two children who do not carry any papers proving their lineage, and as if I am the one who chose the sheikh’s contract as a document proving my marriage to a foreign fighter without formally confirming it. While some people treat my children as victims, many others treat them as foundlings. “ «Even the organizations do not accept our registration as beneficiaries, because we do not have any official papers, a specific formula must be found to register those children within government departments and not to prosecute them as of unknown parentage. Because I have a Syrian nationality, and in the light of the difficult circumstances in which we live, the best solution for us is that we, mothers, confer our nationality and our lineage to our children.» 19 During the period of the research, which lasted for two and a half years, the team met with several cases representing all affected and targeted groups of the research.