The Plight of the Rightless: Mapping and Understanding Statelessness in Tripoli-V1.3 Statelessness and Marriages in Tripoli Statistics on statelessness in Tripoli are lacking. Nevertheless, a study by the Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women (LCRVAW) in 2017 explains one of the main reasons behind statelessness in Tripoli, non-registered marriages, and its prevalence among Tripolitan families. Non-registered marriages for the Muslim Sunnis are defined as based on a religious marriage contract issued by the Sheikh without being officially registered at the Sunni religious court nor the civil status office.39 The study shows that non-registered marriages account for 11% of marriages among surveyed families in Tripoli, leading to increased non-registered births and thus stateless children. This rate is considered relatively high since every marriage results in the birth of a large number of children. It is even higher in impoverished areas such as Tebbeneh, Qobbeh, Beb el Ramel, Daher el Mogher and Mina.40 In addition to that, polygamy and early marriage are particularly common in such areas, leading to larger families that would often end up nonregistered due to lack of knowledge of registration processes. In fact, LCRVAW found that 20% of surveyed families who did not register their marriage, did so due to the men’s engagement in polygamy. Other reasons behind non-registered marriages in Tripoli include early divorce or divorce and remarriage multiple times (50%), financial burden (35%), counterfeit Sheikh and couples’ ignorance of it (20%) and incomplete required documents (15%). In light of the weak supervision by Dar Al Fatwa over registration of religious marriages, this trend does not seem to slow down anytime soon. On the other hand, Tripoli’s proximity to Syria has facilitated mixed marriages between Lebanese and Syrians.41 As such, discrepancies in birth and marriage registration have aroused, causing many children to become stateless. This could be due to either logistical reasons such as residing in Lebanon and not being able to transport the family to Syria for the registration process or the contrary, or due to the couple or parent’s ignorance of or confusion around the rules of registration in each country. The illegal residence of Syrian women in Lebanon, as well as the loss or damage of their IDs during the war in Syria or while fleeing the country have also contributed to delayed or hindered marriage and birth registration of the children resulting from their marriage with Lebanese men. This trend is shown in one of LCRVAW’s findings that 60% of the marriages of Syrian women in Tripoli are not registered.42 39 The Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women (LCRVAW), The Problems of non-registered Marriage for the Muslim Sunnis in Tripoli - Lebanon (Tripoli, 2017), p.3. 40 Ibid, p.13. 41 Care International, Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, Eight Years On (Beirut, 2018), p.9 42 LCRVAW, The Problems of non-registered Marriage for the Muslim Sunnis in Tripoli (2017), p.25. 28