Lebanese, and at the discretion of the Minister of Public Health. They have no access to formal employment (which is only possible for Qaid adDars ). Informal sector jobs come with increased risk of exploitation. 63 Stateless persons have no access to political rights and civil rights are limited. 48. Stateless persons cannot move freely and face the risk of arrest for not holding an ID. Usually, stateless persons use a certificate issued by the mukhtar as an identification document. However, this document has no legal value since it relies on the information provided by the persons to mukhtars and on mukhtars acquaintance with them and is not endorsed by any official authority. Stateless persons may obtain a laissez passer from the General Security, valid for one year renewable and for multiple entries. This document is used to identify the person and for travel. However, it grants no other rights, is costly (60.000 LBP equivalent to 40UD per person per year) and has to be renewed annually. 49. As a result of the lack of legal status and records, stateless persons cannot register their marriages and the births of their children, perpetuating statelessness between generations. Their deaths are not registered. They cannot own property and register their homes and cars – if they can afford having any given their lack of economic rights – under the names of relatives or friends who have a nationality, which may result in conflicts ad dependancy. They cannot inherit property. 50. Some stateless persons register their children under the names of their Lebanese relatives to spare them the plight of statelessness. However, in addition to the risk of being prosecuted for fraud, the child may be stripped later upon the request of the “siblings” for inheritance purposes. Some stateless women deliver in hospitals under the names of Lebanese relatives who have access to the coverage of the Social Security or Ministry of Health. All this results in false or fake identities that have legal, social and psychological repercussions. 51. Stateless children are at risk of being trafficked, since they have no legal documents and no protection. This risk becomes greater for institutionalised stateless children, due to the lack of control on the institutions and their compliance with the obligation to register the children. There is no facilitated access to the records of these institutions. They do not disclose any information to researchers and even sometimes to the administrative and judicial authorities in charge. The dossiers of these children at institutions – accessible only if the institution wishes so and is asking for assistance to register the child and rarely by judicial order - are almost empty: containing no protection orders, police reports, or regular monitoring reports by UPEL (the Union for the Protection of Children in Lebanon) as required by law. 52. Stateless persons have no national or local institutions or offices they can refer to for counselling, information on procedures to end statelessness or to access rights. They fear to approach the authorities to complain in case they were victim of abuse, attack, theft or any violation. Covid-19 Update 53. In Lebanon, the first case of COVID-19 was recorded on 21 February 2020. On 16 March 2020 the Government announced a state of general mobilisation and medical emergency; it called for all citizens to stay at home, ordered closure of public spaces, restaurants, shopping areas, and other non-essential, private and public institutions. As of 18 March, the airport, port and Syria border were closed. For stateless persons and other marginalised groups in Lebanon, and the UNHCR, Gender Discrimination And Childhood Statelessness, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/gender-discrimination-andstateless-children/. 63 11