Zahra Albarazi journey in a third country, and having their country of origin and status registered incorrectly.23 2.1.3 Other groups with precarious relationship to citizenship The Dom are a traditionally nomadic community found across much region and believed to share their origins with the Roma of Europe. Many of the Dom often travelled across the borders between Syria and the neighbouring countries and all have faced severe discrimination against them. For both of these reasons, although no official statistics exist, many have never been able to acquire Syrian nationality.24 Iraqi refugees have been entering into Syria for many decades due to the various conflicts the country has gone through. Estimates suggest 1 million were living there before the Syrian conflict broke out.25 Iraq’s nationality law is also discriminatory26 where children born outside the country can only obtain citizenship from the father, and therefore Iraqi mothers who have had children in Syria without a legal link to a father may have stateless children. There are no figures as to whether any Iraqi in Syria have been able to access nationality, although most indications show this was not a practice even when an individual fulfilled the naturalisation requirements. 2.2 The effect of the current conflict on citizenship issues There have been many additional challenges created by the Syrian conflict with regards to issues relating to citizenship. Predominantly, existing challenges within the processes of acquisition and retention have been exacerbated due to the severity of the conflict. Firstly, the conflict has further problematised the experiences of already existing stateless communities, such as the Kurds and Palestinians. As many have been become internally displaced or have had to seek refuge outside the country, this often leads to new statelessness-related vulnerabilities added to those that already exist in a displacement context. For instance, prior to leaving, many stateless Syrians encountered increased security problems as they were unable to present recognised documentation at checkpoints that were found across the country. In addition to internal travel, many stateless persons faced additional challenges when trying to cross international borders. For example, there have been numerous instances where neighbouring countries to Syria were not allowing stateless Palestinians to enter.27 23 From Syria to Europe: Experiences of Stateless Kurds and Palestinian Refugees from Syria Seeking Protection in Europe, January 2019, available at: http://www.institutesi.org/from_Syria_to_Europe.pdf. 24 There has been very little research conducted on this issue. For more information on the Dom of Syria, see VOA News, 2013, The Dom: Syria’s Invisible Refugees, access at http://www.voanews.com/a/the-dom-syriasinvisible-refugees/1626658.html and this report: https://www.stgm.org.tr/sites/default/files/2020-09/the-domthe-other-asylum-seekers-from-syria-discrimination-isolation-and-social-exclusion-syrian-dom-asylum-seekersin-the-crossfire.pdf. 25 Amnesty International, 2008, Suffering in Silence: Iraqi Refugees in Syria. AI Briefing MDE 14/010/2008, p. 1. 26 Article 3, Iraqi Nationality Law [Iraq], Law 26 of 2006, 7 March 2006, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4b1e364c2.html. 27 See Human Rights Watch, 2012, Bias at the Syrian Border, access at https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/04/jordan-bias-syrian-border and Syria’s Palestinians: a new nabka: https://mcusercontent.com/fbd4f0a24885246c0518468cc/files/81c1153a-7b33-4e9a-9f7179676ff00f19/Syria_s_Palestinians_1.pdf. 6 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2021/15 © 2021 Author(s)