SEEKING NATIONALITY THE JUDICIAL ODYSSEY OF APPLICANTS CAUSES OF STATELESSNESS IN LEBANON General Features Of Stateless Individuals In Lebanon n Administrative n Historical Before the creation of Greater Lebanon and the establishment of the Lebanese nationality in 1924,10 the majority of the population living in Lebanon were considered Ottoman citizens. In 1932, a population census determined who is Lebanese, or is a foreigner, or “without a nationality”. According to the 1932 Population Census Decree considered to be Lebanese citizen any person who met two conditions: 1) if is an Ottoman citizen; and 2) Lebanon is his/her habitual residency in 30 August 1924.11 The majority of the stateless population in Lebanon emerged with the census operation as persons “without a nationality”. Yet, not all stateless persons today are the children or grandchildren of persons who were registered “without nationality” in 1932. Others are children of Lebanese fathers but their birth is not registered. For practical reasons, the causes of statelessness in Lebanon are divided in this study into two main broad categories: 1) administrative, and 2) historical. The administrative one makes up to 41% of the sample and consists mainly of children born to registered fathers or grandfathers whose births are not registered with the relevant competent authorities. The “administrative” stateless persons also are divided into two subcategories: Lebanese and non-Lebanese. The historical category makes up to 59% of the sample and the majority are individuals who have inherited their statelessness from their ancestors who either never had a nationality or lost it and have links with Lebanon.12 Up until the end of 2018, the nominal statistics database of Frontiers Rights Association included the names of 4891 stateless individuals. The majority of whom have no personal status records in the registers of the state, with the exception of those registered as Qaid adDars “understudy”. This study is based on analysing a population sample of 3142 completed individual stateless files. Table 1 Distribution of Origin of Statelessness in Lebanon Category Gender Distribution The percentage of male stateless individuals slightly exceeds the percentage of female stateless individuals. Table 2 Sample Gender Distribution Gender Number Percentage Female 1433 45.61% Male 1709 54.39% Total 3142 100% Geographical Distribution SEEKING NATIONALITY | PART 1 FRONTIERS RIGHTS Statelessness is prevalent in all Lebanese governorates though in varying proportions. However, more than half of the stateless families (around 59%) are distributed among three governorates: Akkar, Beqaa, and Baalbek-Hermel governorate. Table 3 Geographical Distribution by Governorate Governorate Number Percentage Akkar 973 30.97% Beqaa 519 16.52% Baalbek – Hermel 368 11.72% Mount Lebanon 353 11.23% North Lebanon 313 9.96% South Lebanon 280 8.91% Number Percentage Administrative 1290 41.06% Beirut 181 5.76% Historical 1852 58.94% Nabatiyeh 155 4.93% Total Study Sample 3142 100% Total 3142 100% 24