Syrian Women’s League had estimated that there were approximately 100,000 Syrian women married to non-nationals, mostly from other Arab states. The number today is expected to be notably higher due to high levels of displacement post 2011.20 19. It is acknowledged and welcomed that the National Commission for Transitional Justice (NCTJ) sponsored the March 2026 conference at Damascus University on “Gaps in the Nationality Law: Achieving Gender Equality”.21 It is encouraging that the question of gender discrimination in the nationality law has thus been adapted as part of the national transitional justice agenda. Conflict-Impacted Cohorts and Displacement Contexts 20. The combination of the gender discriminatory law and the protracted consequences of the conflict, including resultant large-scale displacement since 2011, has dramatically increased the risk of statelessness amongst children born to Syrian women both inside and outside the country. Due to the conflict’s legacy, refugee and internally displaced families may be separated, civil documents lost or destroyed, and fathers may be imprisoned or deceased – all increasing the risk of statelessness, which is dramatically exacerbated by gender discrimination in the nationality law. 21. Even before the current conflict, a large number of Syrians lacked registration of vital civil status events, such as marriages and births.22 As noted by UNHCR and the Syrian Ministry of Interior, “Without a completed birth registration, a child may not be able to prove its Syrian Nationality” or access public services, such as education and health care.23 Despite attempts to digitalise civil documentation processes prior to the outbreak of the civil war, the civil registration system is still largely paper-based and without back-ups. This has resulted in “the only record of the existence of Syrian nationals – particularly the registration of vital events such as births, and their link to Syria… [being] lost” in cases where these hard copy records have been lost or destroyed in the conflict.24 22. As noted above, Article 3(b) of the 1969 Nationality Act does not allow conferral of nationality from Syrian mothers upon children born outside the country. This means that children of refugees from Syria who are born to Syrian mothers in host countries will struggle to acquire Syrian nationality. Syrian refugee parents have in recent years faced difficulties in accessing civil documentation from consular services abroad for their children born abroad, as they could not prove a legal link to Syria, feared persecution from the former regime, or were not able to physically access consulates or embassies.25 Although various amendments were made to the civil 20 Institute for War and Peace Reporting, “Campaign to change unfair citizenship law continues,” 19 December 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4959de2a1e.html. 21 The Syrian Observer, “Syrian Nationality Law” Conference Examines Discrimination Against Women and Risks of Statelessness, 31 March 2026. 22 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. 23 UNHCR and Syrian Arab Republic Ministry for Interior (Civil Affairs Directorate), “Civil Documentation and Registration in the Syrian Arab Republic,” at 20, available at: https://www.unhcr.org/sy/wpcontent/uploads/sites/3/2018/09/Personal-DocumentationEn-Jul-2018.pdf. 24 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and Norwegian Refugee Council, “Understanding statelessness in the Syria refugee context,” 2016, at 19, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/584021494.html. 25 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