1. Warsheh Team1, the MENA Statelessness Network (Hawiati)2, the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (GCENR)3 and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI)4 make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), on the right to a nationality and human rights challenges pertaining to statelessness in the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria). 2. Syria has a sizeable stateless population, due to several historic root causes: gender discrimination in the nationality law; weaknesses in the civil registration system (particularly leading to unregistered to marriage and births); historic mass denationalisation of a section of the Kurdish community and the legacy of Palestinian dispossession since 1948. In many cases, this led to intergenerational statelessness. These root causes were greatly exacerbated following the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. Stateless individuals and those denied nationality due to discriminatory laws face many obstacles in the enjoyment of basic rights, such as education, property rights and the right to travel, among others. There are a wide range of protection risks associated with being stateless from Syria both inside and outside the country,5 while Syrian women and noncitizen children and spouses impacted by gender discrimination in the nationality law face obstacles to returning to Syria and accessing equal rights and services in the country. Furthermore, under the current interim period, these protection risks heavily impact both stateless individuals and those at risk of statelessness, including due to the unresolved legacy of enforced disappearances from the conflict and the ongoing crisis of missing civil documentation.6 3. The current UNHCR figure for the number of stateless people in Syria is 160,000.7 However, this figure is believed to refer only to stateless Kurds and is likely unreliable, particularly given that UNHCR has reported this figure since 2013.8 This figure fails to account for emerging cohorts at risk of statelessness, specifically children born out of unregistered marriages in asylum countries and in areas formerly outside central government control. Moreover, this figure does not include the 1 Warsheh Team is a Syrian non-profit organization that works directly with affected individuals to document and advocate for human rights, protection, and equal nationality rights for Syrians in Syria and in countries of asylum. 2 The MENA Statelessness Network (Hawiati) is a network bringing together actors working on, and interested in, statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It aims to build solidarity between such actors and individuals affected by statelessness across the region. For more information, see: https://www.hawiati-mena.org/ 3 The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (GCENR) mobilizes international action to end gender discrimination in nationality laws, through its coalition of national and international organizations and activists. Steering Committee members include Equality Now, Equal Rights Trust, ISI, Women’s Learning Partnership and Women’s Refugee Commission. For more information, see: https://www.equalnationalityrights.org/. 4 ISI is the first and only human rights NGO dedicated to working on statelessness at the global level. ISI’s mission is to promote inclusive societies by realising and protecting everyone’s right to a nationality. The Institute has made more than 130 country-specific submissions to UN human rights bodies on the right to a nationality and the rights of stateless persons. For more information, see: https://www.institutesi.org/. 5 European Network on Statelessness and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, “Statelessness in Syria,” August 2019, available at: https://statelessjourneys.org/wp-content/uploads/StatelessJourneys-Syria-August-2019.pdf. 6 Thomas McGee, “Syrian statelessness in transition: Assessing change amid civil war and regime change”, Melbourne Asia Review, June 2026, avilable at: https://www.melbourneasiareview.edu.au/syrian-statelessnessamid-civil-war-regime-change. 7 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), “In Search of Solutions: Addressing Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa,” September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57dbdaba4.html. 8 A ssessing the statelessness situation in Syria is incredibly difficult due, amongst other factors, to poor and non-centralised statistical records, as well as regular population movements. 1