UNDERSTANDING STATELESSNESS IN THE SYRIA REFUGEE CONTEXT  4 PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO SYRIAN NATIONALITY: REFUGEES AT HEIGHTENED RISK OF STATELESSNESS As explored above, a small minority of refugees may find themselves at heightened risk of being rendered stateless after having been displaced, and are therefore in need of protection to mitigate this risk. During the research, a number of ‘risk profiles’ were explored. This section provides an overview of those individuals who face a significantly heightened risk of statelessness, but is not exclusive. The issues discussed here overlap to some extent with those relating to the general refugee population, as presented in the previous chapter. Nevertheless, given the particularities of the risk faced by those identified in this section, a more tailored and specialist form of intervention may also be warranted to ensure the prevention of statelessness. 4.1 RISK PROFILES FOR PERSONS FACING PROBLEMS WITH ACCESS TO BIRTH AND MARRIAGE REGISTRATION As discussed in chapter 3, birth registration plays a vital role in the prevention of statelessness among Syrian children born in exile.167 Not being registered at birth does not – of itself – render a child stateless, but when a child is left unregistered and undocumented and there is no evidence of the legal link to their Syrian father, lack of birth registration can put that child at risk of statelessness.168 167 UNHCR, Child Protection Issue Brief: Birth Registration, supra n107. 168 For more information on the nexus between birth registration and statelessness see UNHCR and Plan International, Under the Radar and Under Protected, 2012, available at: http://plan-international.org/ about-plan/resources/publications/campaigns/under-the-radar-and-under-protected, page 5. RESEARCH REPORT 35