UNDERSTANDING STATELESSNESS IN THE SYRIA REFUGEE CONTEXT  Host country Number of registered refugees62 Key characteristics of the refugee population Iraq 247,339 97% of all refugees from Syria in Iraq can be found in the KRI region.63 Just under 100,000 reside in refugee camps, the others are in urban settings.64 A substantial number entered the country through informal (irregular) borders and the majority of refugees come from North Eastern Syrian cities, such as Alhassaka and Qamishli. Over 90% of Syrian refugees in KRI are Syrian Kurds.65 The Kurdish identity of the refugees coming from Syria brings with it a sense of solidarity between the refugees and the host communities.66 Jordan 655,217 There are approximately 150,000 persons based in camps,67 and many, especially Palestinian Refugees from Syria (PRS), also find themselves residing in the various Palestinian camps where UNRWA assistance is available.68 Most of the refugees come from Dar’a and its surroundings (approximately 42% of registered refugees),69 or the capital Damascus and its surroundings. Jordan’s refugee response is relatively centralised, and the camp setting is well-organised and highly regulated.70 A large number of Syrians also lived in Jordan before the crisis and the government has estimated the total Syrian population in the country to be 1.4 million.71 Lebanon 1,033,513 Lebanon is estimated to host more than 1.5 million refugees from Syria.72 Many entered the country through informal borders and only just over a million are registered as refugees.73 Lebanon’s own population is estimated to be under 4.5 million people, so almost 1 in 4 people on Lebanese soil are now refugees from Syria. The majority of refugees living in Lebanon come from the cities of Homs, Hama and Damascus and their surroundings. There is a ‘no camp’ policy in Lebanon and therefore refugees live scattered across the country in urban settings or Informal Tent Settlements (ITS) – making identifying and/ or reaching out to them particularly complex.74 Many, especially Palestinians displaced from Syria, reside in Palestinian neighbourhoods and areas. Turkey 2,743,497 Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world, more than half of which are children. 2.7 million have been registered by the government and the real figure is potentially higher still.75 Approximately 90% of the refugees live in urban areas, where they face obstacles accessing services, including due to lack of information and the limited reach of assistance organisations.76 The rest of the refugee population lives in 25 camps which are predominantly located in the South of Turkey near Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep and Sanliurfa.77 117,702 All of the Syrian refugees in Egypt live in urban settings.78 As Egypt does not share a border with Syria, very few entered the country through informal borders without a visa. The number of irregular entries through Sudan has drastically increased since the beginning of 2016 – almost 25% of Syrians registered since then did not have a valid visa.79 Egypt 626364656667 62 Registered Syrian refugees as of 31 May 2016. See 3RP, Mid-Year Report, 2016, available at: http:// data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/download.php?id=11804 and Syria Refugee Response Inter-Agency Information Sharing Portal, supra n24 for up-to-date statistics. 63 Ibid. 64 Syria Refugee Response Inter-Agency Information Sharing Portal, ‘Iraq’, available at http://data.unhcr. org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=103. 65 A. Sood and L. Seferis, ‘Syrians contributing to Kurdish Economic Growth’, Forced Migration Review, Issue 47, 2014, available at http://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/syria/soodseferis.pdf. 66 Interview with Intersos, Erbil KRI, July 2016. 67 UNHCR, Registered Syrians in Jordan, 2015, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/55223da84. html.  RESEARCH REPORT 21