Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Syria PALESTINIAN REFUGEES FROM SYRIA Palestinians are widely considered the largest stateless population in the world, although recognition as such is complex and self-identification varies. In the majority of countries in the Arab world, Palestinians are excluded from obtaining nationality as a result of the interpretation of the League of Arab States 1965 Protocol for the Treatment of Palestinians in Arab States (“Casablanca Protocol”). Syria is among the countries that maintains a policy of non-naturalisation of Palestinians, meaning that statelessness has continued across generations. The rights and treatment enjoyed by Palestinians in Syria differ depending on their date of arrival in the country. In general, those who arrived before 1956 enjoy more rights than those who arrived after. The civil war has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinian Refugees from Syria, with intense fighting in and around the Yarmouk and Dera’a refugee camps. The United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has stated that around 160,000 of the registered Palestinians living in Syria at the time the conflict broke out have fled Syria. The actual number of displaced stateless Palestinians is likely to be higher as those who were not registered or were ineligible for registration with UNRWA (known as ‘non-ID Palestinians’) are not accounted for. The stateless status of Palestinian refugees from Syria has further complicated their displacement, adding challenges such as refusal of entry into neighbouring countries, delays in their journey in a third country (e.g. Greece), being incorrectly registered as having “unknown” nationality or being registered by third countries as “Syrian.”