Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Iraq the Maktumeen especially precarious. Despite the passage of Decree 49 in Syria in 2011, which created a pathway to Syrian nationality for the Ajanib, many Kurds from Syria in KR-I continue to be stateless due to the difficulties in the implementation of procedures for acquisition of nationality. Ordinarily, foreigners who have been resident in Iraq for ten years can apply for naturalisation. This is not implemented, however, for stateless Kurds from Syria who arrived in 2004 as they are considered to have not “entered Iraq legally”.99 For further information on stateless Kurds, please see the Country Position Paper on Syria. 4.6 Other Populations Affected by or at Risk of Statelessness The US Department of State reported in 2018 that children of Iraqi mothers, including Yezidi women held captive by ISIS, whose fathers were members of Daesh are at risk of statelessness.100 Children born to mothers associated with ISIS through marriage to an ISIS member or through direct engagement, and children simply born under ISIS control may also be at risk of statelessness, as ISIS issued documentation are not often recognised.“101 An amendment to Iraq’s Nationality Law in 2015 stated that a child born to a non-Muslim mother and a Muslim father are to be considered as Muslim regardless of the mother’s religion, circumstances or choices. This is another clear example of gender discrimination in Iraq’s Nationality Law impacting on women’s equality. As a result, “[t]he Yezidi community frequently forced women to give up such babies and minor children to orphanages under threat of expulsion from the community...some such children are without parents, identification, clear country of birth, or settled nationality.”102 Amnesty International reported that, “[a]lthough the Yezidi community have tried to reintegrate women victims who have escaped, the stigma attached to such women is far reaching.”103 UNHCR stated, in 2019 that “[c]hildren born out of wedlock or to parents whose marriage was not officially registered, particularly children born in areas formerly under ISIS control, including as a result of sexual enslavement, are reported to be at risk of remaining without official legal status and documentation, abandonment as well as stigmatisation and abuse.”104 UN Assistance Mission for Iraq reported in 2017 that there were 2,745 Yezidi children that had lost one or both parents.105 Iraqis of African descent (sometimes referred to as “Black Iraqis”) are considered nationals of Iraq. However, they may be at risk of statelessness, as they are among the most marginalised and disadvantaged populations in Iraq, and many lack civil status documentation, such as birth 99 According to expert consultant, 2019. US Department of State, Human Rights Report – Iraq 2018, 13 March 2019, at 39, available at: https://www.state.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2019/03/IRAQ-2018.pdf 101 According to expert consultant, 2019; see also Lees, S (2016) Bon of the Islamic State: Addressing Discrimination in Nationality Provision through a Rule of Law Framework [online] available at: https://files.institutesi.org/WP2016_08.pdf; see also Norwegian Refugee Council (2017) Barriers From Birth: Undocumented Children in Iraq Sentenced to a Life on the Margins [online] availale at: https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/iraq/barriers-from-birth/barriers-from-birth-med-pages.pdf 102 US Department of State, Human Rights Report – Iraq 2018, 13 March 2019, at 39, available at: https://www.state.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2019/03/IRAQ-2018.pdf 103 The Conversation, Sexual violence against the Yezidis is part of IS’s genocide campaign, 6 July 2017, available at: http://theconversation.com/sexual-violence-against-the-yezidis-is-part-of-iss-genocide-campaign-77070 104 UNHCR, International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing the Republic of Iraq, May 2019, at 98, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5cc9b20c4.html 105 UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July to December 2017, 8 July 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b6afc544.html 100 17