 UNDERSTANDING STATELESSNESS IN THE SYRIA REFUGEE CONTEXT the parents of a child are. The requirement to provide this also varies between officials. Although this inconsistency can be challenging, it also offers a space for potential flexibility which may work to the benefit of refugee families who lack certain documents. 3.1.4 DEALING WITH DOCUMENTS ISSUED BY NON-STATE ACTORS IN SYRIA An emerging challenge is the question of the legitimacy and value attributed to personal documents issued in non-government controlled areas by non-State actors such as the Kurdish Self Administrated Area, Local Councils in southern Syria and the Free Independent Judicial Council under the Interim Government in northern Syria. These non-State actors have become involved in registering births and marriages. The Interim Government registration practices, for instance, have been found to largely mirror those of the government of Syria.129 In numerous areas of Syria, these documents may be all that is available to people, yet the question of their legal validity is a challenging one. In the refugee-hosting countries, there is a lack of consistency as to which non-State actor-issued documents are accepted. Certain Lebanese religious judges, for example, accept itilaf-issued documents (from local councils in opposition-controlled areas), whereas in other areas these documents are considered fraudulent.130 It is reported that some Syrian Sheikhs resident in Lebanon have even considered it within their power to issue such documents. In Jordan, documents such as the itilaf documents are also seen, however there seems systematic position across all authorities that these documents cannot be recognised inside the country.131 In KRI, there has been a surge of documents being used that are produced by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Unit forces – one lawyer spoke of how he regularly advises clients that they should not attempt to use these documents and in fact should get rid of them as they would be considered to be fraudulent.132 In KRI, neither the authorities nor the international NGOs accept these documents as proof of identity.133 3.2 BARRIERS TO CIVIL REGISTRATION IN THE HOST COUNTRY: KNOWLEDGE GAPS 3.2.1 REFUGEES’ LACK OF AWARENESS OF THE HOST COUNTRY’S PROCEDURES Most refugees understand the importance of personal documents. In Lebanon for instance, Oxfam organised community-driven sessions to better understand refugees’ needs. The sessions showed that accessing civil registration was a concern to the community.134 However, prioritisation and awareness of the modalities of procedures is a real problem. In KRI, a UNHCR survey showed that 40% of households did not know where to obtain marriage and/ or birth certificates.135 In Turkey, refugees are often unsure of which steps to take and which procedures to follow.136 When refugees attempt to acquire a birth certificate for their new-born there is often confusion, for example where refugees mix up the birth report of the hospital, the registration for a temporary protection status, and the birth certificate.137 In addition, most of the Turkish registration offices are housed in the foreigners’ departments of police stations, 129 IRC, Identify me: The Documentation Crisis in Northern Syria, 2016, available at: https://www.scribd. com/document/319309287/Identify-Me-July-2016-IRC, page 4. 130 Interviews with Sharia Courts, Baalback and Tripoli Lebanon, May 2016. 131 Interviews with Sharia Court, Amman Jordan, July 2016 and Interview with Justice Centre for Legal Aid (JCLA), Irbid Jordan, July 2016. 132 Interview with Harikar, Dohuk KRI, July 2016. 133 Interview with Qandil, Erbil KRI, July 2016. 134 Interview with Oxfam, Beirut Lebanon, May 2016. 135 UNHCR, Multi-Sector Needs Assessment, supra n19. 136 Interview online with Daryl Grisgraber, May 2016. 137 S. Reynolds and D. Grisgraber, Birth Registration in Turkey: protecting the future for Syrian children, Refugee International field report, 2015, pages 6 and 9. 30 RESEARCH REPORT