NRC I Displacement, HLP and access to civil documentation in the north west of the Syrian Arab Republic Conflict and the widespread damage and destruction of many civil registry offices across the country and the fact that official civil registry offices are not generally operational in NGCAs means that many people living in NGCAs have limited access to official Government of Syria civil registration and documentation processes. These facilities simply do not exist in the areas where they live; they themselves feel unable to cross from NGCAs to Government of Syria controlled areas in order to access civil documentation which many perceive would be dangerous; and they cannot afford to pay facilitators to access civil documentation in Government of Syria controlled areas on their behalf. As a result of this lack of access to registration, it was found that among the households surveyed, almost a quarter of IDP household members aged 14 or over did not have ID cards. Moreover, as a result of the limitations in accessing official civil registration, de facto actors are engaging in providing documentation and a variety of documents are circulating. Only six per cent of respondents reported that they currently have access to Government of Syria documentation. It seems that this is mainly through paying facilitators. People have to pay a significant amount of generally limited resources to obtain documentation in this way and they cannot be certain that the document they receive is a genuinely issued Government of Syria document. Figure 5: Household survey (n=600): Access to legal identity and civil documentation in displacement Seven per cent of members of the households surveyed were not included in the household’s family booklet 55 and the vast majority of these (89 per cent) were children. 71 per cent of household members not included in the family booklet were children who have been born since 2011. This has important consequences for children as, together with birth certificates, their inclusion in the family booklet is official recognition in relation to their existence, identity and nationality and the family booklet is used more in practice as the proof of identity for children under 14 than birth certificates. Without such official recognition, it will not be possible for children to obtain other documents, such as an ID card and passport. Of those family members not listed in the family booklet, a quarter had no proof of birth (whether a birth notification issued by a medical facility or a birth certificate issued by an official civil registry) and just over a half had some form of proof of birth but, in 65 per cent of cases, it was issued in areas outside of Government of Syria control. Documents issued outside of Syrian government controlled areas are not official documents and so it is unclear 55 The family booklet is the official document used to track information of a genealogical/ legal interest in Syria, such as family composition. 24 I NRC Assessment Report