The Plight of the Rightless: Mapping and Understanding Statelessness in Tripoli-V1.3 Figure 15-Property ownership Freedom of Movement and Risk of Arbitrary Detention Half of the stateless persons currently living in Tripoli (52%) expressed fear of moving around the city because of checkpoints. They are scared of getting arrested at checkpoints as they do not have any official means to prove who they are. The most common identification paper they can rely on to avoid being arrested is the attestation of the Mukhtar or Ta’arif card, as well as the Laissez-Passer passport in case they have one or the under-study card in case they belong to this category of stateless. In most cases, if the stateless person is arrested but shows a Ta’arif card to police officers, they would call the Mukhtar and inquire about his/her true identity as well as the legitimacy of the Ta’arif card he/she is holding. This has been generally sufficient to release the stateless, unless the police suspects any unlawful act on their behalf. Of those 52%, 38% declared not moving around at all exclusively due to fear of being arrested, while 32% have adapted and learnt how to avoid checkpoints while moving around. Another 17% depend on family members for their errands. In general, 60% of the stateless and a little less of the non-stateless currently living in Tripoli declared never going out of the city at all. In fact, as said by one of the stateless respondents, not being able to travel easily between Tripoli and other cities limits the work opportunities available to these people much more than others. He explained: “I very rarely travel outside Tripoli. I wish I could. Sometimes I get gigs in Beirut but I can’t go because I’m scared of being arrested. I have a family to protect, I can’t risk it. So I just give the gig to a friend.” 39