Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Iran 5. POPULATIONS AFFECTED BY OR AT RISK OF STATELESSNESS Two populations in particular are identified as being affected by stateless in Iran in the existing literature: Faili Kurds and Khavari Afghans.55 However, there are other groups that might be at risk of statelessness, including undocumented Baluch people residing in the Sistan and Baluchestan province. Statistics provided in this section are not comprehensive, due to the limited information available on the populations of concern and lack of any mapping of statelessness in Iran. There are also information gaps regarding the rights of stateless people in Iran, their access to social services and protection concerns, which require further research. 5.1 Faili Kurds In the mid-1970s, Iraq expelled around 40,000 Faili Kurds, who were largely Shia Kurds from northern Iraq to Iran, alleging they were Iranian nationals. Those Faili Kurds who arrived in Iran during the 1970s and were able to present proof of Iranian ancestry could obtain Iranian nationality.56 In 1980, through Presidential Decree 666, an estimated 300,000 Faili Kurds were stripped of their Iraqi nationality by order of the then President, Saddam Hussein. After this denationalisation, the Iraqi Government seized their property and a substantial number of Faili Kurds were deported to Iran. Many of these families lived in camps in Iran and were denied access to work, education, travel documents and civil registration. In 2006, the Iraqi Nationality Law repealed Decree 666 and provided the possibility of reacquiring Iraqi nationality to all those who had been denaturalised by the former Government. According to the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MODM), around 20,000 families have had their Iraqi nationality reinstated since 2003. However, people who lack the necessary documentation to prove either their own or their ancestors’ registration during the 1957 Iraqi National Census, cannot benefit from this initiative. The civil records of many people were destroyed or lost during the war and many were excluded from the census.57 Recent data on the population of Faili Kurds in Iran is not available. In 2008, UNHCR stated that some 760 Kurds in Ilam province were able to obtain Iranian nationality. While the number of Kurds in Iran decreased as many were repatriated to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, it was estimated in 2008 that around 7,000 Faili Kurds remained in Iran.58 For more information on the Faili Kurds, please refer to the Iraq Country Position Paper. 5.2 Khavaris The Khavaris are an ethnic group of Hazara origin associated mainly with Afghanistan. Throughout the 20th Century they migrated from Afghanistan to Iran and can be predominantly in the Khorassan Province in North East Iran. Data on the size of the Khavari minority population living in Iran is not 55 For a comprehensive view on these stateless populations, see Tucker, J. (2014). Tucker, J. (2014). Exploring Statelessness in Iran. Gaps in the Nationality Law, Populations of Concern and Areas for Future Research. Retrieved from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2441850 57 Campbell, E. (2010). The Faili Kurds of Iraq: Thirty Years Without Nationality. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/faili-kurdsiraq-thirty-years-without-nationality 58 Tan, V. (2008). Faili Kurds in Iran seek way out of identity impasse. UNHCR. Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2008/5/483d60872/feili-kurds-iran-seek-way-identity-impasse.html 56 12