CChapter 3: Comparative analysis of nationality laws proving very difficult for many. UNHCR has stated that: ‘’With the continued arrival of refugees from Syria, the number of stateless persons in Lebanon and persons at risk of statelessness has risen. Some refugees arrive in Lebanon with unconfirmed nationality, or without documents proving their nationality. […] Stateless from Syria may lack nationality due to gaps in Syria’s national legislation or lack of access to civil registration procedures.’’200 The inability therefore of both the Lebanese and the new and growing community of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to register is becoming an epidemic. Although official statistics are unavailable it has been estimated that up to 75 per cent of new-born Syrian refugee children have not been registered.201 Not being able to confim that they are Syrian through doumentation will mean that they will become a Lebansese statelessness problem in the future. An example of prevention – the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Lebanon: The Information and Counciling Legal Assistance programme (ICLA) of NRC in Lebanon has been providing information, counselling and legal assistance on civil documentation, including birth registration, 200 - UNHCR Lebanon Statelessness Update March 2014 201 - UNHCR, The Future of Syria, Refugee Children in Crisis, 2014, access at http://unhcr.org/FutureOfSyria/executive-summary.html 153