FRONTIERS RIGHTS SEEKING NATIONALITY THE JUDICIAL ODYSSEY OF APPLICANTS • ALAA’ IS THE DESCENDANT OF A BEDOUIN FAMILY. One member of the extended family registered in the 1932 Census. Alaa’s grandfather did not register and later was registered as Qaid adDars “under-study” with the Lebanese General Security. FRH assigned an attorney to submit a nationality lawsuit on behalf of Alaa and his siblings on grounds that they were born in Lebanon and that they belong to a tribe proven to have been settled for more than six months per year in Lebanon during the census, and by virtue of the registration of one of his grandfather’s siblings in the census. SEEKING NATIONALITY | PART 2 • NAEL AND HIS CHILDREN ARE STATELESS AND REGISTERED WITH THE GENERAL SECURITY AS “UNDER-STUDY’’. Nael was born to a Syrian mother and an Egyptian father. Nael’s father had, for unknown reasons, his Egyptian nationality withdrawn from his grandfather. FRH assigned an attorney-at-law to file a lawsuit on jus soli grounds for Nael and his children. The judge requested an official attestation from the Egyptian authorities that the Applicant holds an Egyptian nationality or if he was eligible to acquire it. The Egyptian Embassy in Lebanon replied two years after the request was made and four years after the lawsuit was filed to confirm that the Applicant, along with his children, are not considered Egyptian. Jus Soli Lawsuits - Article 1(2) of Decision 15/1925 in conjunction with Article 12 of Decree no. 8837/1932 The Lebanese nationality of nomadic tribes in Lebanon is regulated by Article 12 of the 1932 population census, Decree no. 8837. It stipulates that a tribe must reside in Lebanon for more than six months per year in order to be counted as Lebanese. During the census, many nomads did not register for different reasons. Some did not have proven evidence of the required period of residency such as documentation regulating the entry and exit of tribes into and out of Lebanon, as the demarcation of borders between Lebanon and Syria had not yet been completed. Today, merely proving that the person in question belongs to a nomadic Arab tribe and that their tribe resides in Lebanon for more than six months per year is not sufficient for automatic Lebanese nationality. The effect of Article 12 of Decree 8837 ceased. It does not appear that this article is been used today as a legal ground to be considered automatically Lebanese. Nevertheless, nomad Bedouins today have to resort to court to obtain the Lebanese nationality as it is stipulated in Article 1 of Law 1967/68 that states individuals cannot be considered Lebanese nationals except through a lawsuit against the Lebanese state. To clarify the interpretation of Article 12 of Decree 8837 and to test the conditions of territorial affiliation, FRH assigned lawyers to file two nationality lawsuits based on Article 1 (2) of Decision 15/1925 as primary ground and on the tribal origins that resided for more than six months per year as a secondary legal ground. • SALIM BELONGS TO A WELL BEDOUIN TRIBE SETTLED IN AKKAR SINCE DECADES AND SOME OF THE TRIBE’S MEMBERS ARE RELIGIOUS SHEIKS AND MUKHTARS. The majority of this tribe members registered in the 1932 census and obtained the Lebanese nationality, except Salim’s direct grandfather who remained unregistered (Maktoum alQayd) as well as his children and grand grandchildren among them Salim. He is married to a Lebanese woman and is a father of 4 children. He and his 4 children are stateless. FRH assigned an attorney to file a nationality lawsuit on grounds that Selim is born in Lebanon and does not have a nationality of any country and that he belongs to a well know tribe in Akkar who was resided in Lebanon for more than 6 months per year since before the census and until the present day. 46