37. Statelessness is not only a result of legislative gaps and gender discrimination in national legislation. Large numbers of Lebanese people of differing ethnic backgrounds, in particular, Palestinians, Armenians, Syrian refugees and, Bedouin people, were excluded from the 1932 census, which was the last census in the country.53 38. The main category of stateless population is homegrown, whom for a number of reasons were not registered in the population census of 1932. Every Ottoman subject residing in Greater Lebanon on 30 August 1924 was considered Lebanese by force of the law.54 The Decision 2825 gave adults the right to opt for Lebanese or other nationalities of the newly created States that were part of the Ottoman Empire. Those who opted for Lebanese nationality were provided IDs. The 1932 general population Census was conducted and those who registered and met the two conditions of Decision 2825 acquired Lebanese nationality provided they presented IDs as proof of acquisition. Those who did not opt for a Lebanese ID were counted as foreigners or “without nationality”. Others, such as some nomad tribes, did not register. Many could not prove the required condition of six months continuous residency within the year. 39. Further, statelessness was caused by the lack of officially demarcated borders between Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. Some people evaded the census on purpose, for political reasons, ignorance of the importance of the Census, or by fear of being recorded and then called for military service. Anyone who could prove today that their ancestors had the right to be recorded as Lebanese in the Census records has the right to claim the Lebanese nationality, via a lawsuit against the State. However, providing proof of evidence of Ottoman origin and residence in Lebanon in 1924 is a major obstacle for many who wish to claim Lebanese nationality. Despite the new law on “Access to Information”,55 access to the public records of the Ottoman censuses or the 1932 Census is possible only through litigation and requires a judicial decision. 40. The laws in force provide some safeguards against statelessness, but are not widely applied. Those who can prove their Ottoman origin and residence of these ancestors in Lebanon on 30 August 1924 have the right the claim the Lebanese nationality by operation of the law, according to laws that extended the deadlines for registration in the Census and law 68/1967 that provided that the lawsuits of maktoumin (unregistered) based on the Lausanne treaty and Decision 2825 should be brought before the State.56 Lack of Birth Registration 41. Furthermore, children born to parents or ancestors who have acquired Lebanese or another nationality may become stateless if the parents fail to register their births within one year, as prescribed by law, and if they fail to submit a late birth registration lawsuit later. 42. Reasons for failure to register the birth vary. In many instances this is due to the failure to register the parents’ marriage due to various reasons, including conflicts between the religious and civil legal provisions pertaining to marriage and its registration with the civil authorities; the lack of proper documentation to establish marriage; the administrative practice of denying marriage registration to a Lebanese man married to a stateless woman; and the prerequisite of regular stay in the country in order to register the marriage of a Lebanese man and a foreign woman, or two foreign persons who marry in Lebanon. Other reasons behind the failure to register births include lack of proper documentation of birth, challenging requirements and procedures that may be 53 54 UNHCR, Lebanon, Stateless Persons, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/lb/stateless-persons. According to Decision 2825 of 30 August 1924 Law 28 dated 10/2/2017, available in Arabic at http://legallaw.ul.edu.lb/Law.aspx?lawId=269965 Lebanese University, Center For Research And Studies In Legal Informatics, Available at http://legallaw.ul.edu.lb/Law.aspx?lawId=206942 55 56 9