The Plight of the Rightless: Mapping and Understanding Statelessness in Tripoli-V1.3 Syrian nationals, 16% Palestinians, 6% “from the rest of the world including descendants of Lebanese immigrants.” While stateless individuals constituted the second largest group of naturalised, they only amounted to 36% of the total,75 i.e. 56,000, out of whom 32,000 individuals with under-study status. Endless Controversies The 1994 Naturalisation Decree triggered a wave of controversies that is still unfolding, including among others: - The lack of transparency around criteria of naturalisation. While former Minister Bechara Merhej insisted that security institutions conducted investigations into the cases, and that elements confirming the individual's residence in and connection to Lebanon were examined, there were no clear conditions stated in the decree or in any official document published before the final decision. - Suspicion of fraudulent activities and lack of due diligence by Mukhtars and other civil servants because of political interference. - The political controversy related to the sudden replacement of Bechara Merhej on 1 September 1994 by then-deputy Prime Minister Michel Murr; the latter being suspected of benefiting from the numbers of naturalised people who got registered in his own electoral district of Metn. Mr. Merhej also deplores that the correction of mistakes and further investigation of fraud cases, which he had initiated, stopped when he left the Interior Ministry. - The much larger number of Muslim individuals among the naturalised (up to 75% of the total), which caused a strong Christian resentment and led to a challenge submitted by the Maronite League against the decree before the State Shura Council on 26 August 1994. The Aftermath of the 1994 Decree Today The legal challenge before the State Shura Council has only led to a decision to forward the list of naturalised individuals to the Ministry of Interior to conduct further investigation. A mere two hundred people (less than 0.1%) had their naturalisation revoked in 2011. Nonetheless, the political and sectarian controversies have had a strong impact on several subsequent processes. Even when some legal and administrative actions are supposed to unfold in a straightforward way, in fact, these actions are often stalled whenever they are linked to individuals naturalised in 1994. For example: 75 Hourani, The 1994 Naturalisation Decree (2011). 67