7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY • Statelessness refers to the condition of an individual who is not recognized as a citizen by any country. Stateless persons lack the rights and privileges that are attached to citizenship, leaving them vulnerable and often facing significant difficulties in their daily lives. • In Lebanon, statelessness has been a long-standing issue affecting a significant number of individuals and families. The country has faced challenges in effectively identifying, protecting, and resolving the statelessness situation. As such, there is no formal census nor mapping of stateless communities in Lebanon, and very little policy efforts have been engaged by the authorities and other actors to address this issue definitively. • Furthermore, the Lebanese legal framework pertaining to statelessness is outdated and ill-equipped to address this issue. Stateless persons in Lebanon are labelled as either Maktoum el Qayd (MeQ), when they inherited their status or their birth was not registered, or Qayd el Dars (QeD), when their nationality is under study by the authorities. • Replicating the previous mapping efforts in Tripoli (2019) and Akkar (2021), Siren Associates, commissioned by INTERSOS, undertook a new field research covering Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Like the previous ones, this study aims at understanding the causes, consequences and social impact of statelessness in these 2 governorates, which form the social, political and economic heart of Lebanon. • The research consisted of 3 surveys (stateless persons, parents of stateless children and a Lebanese control group) totaling 1,034 respondents, 4 focus group discussions (2 with stateless individuals from diverse profiles, 1 with migrant domestic worker mothers and 1 with stateless with disabilities), 28 key informant interviews with various experts and stakeholders, and 55 in-depth interviews with mukhtars. • The extensive fieldwork identified respectively 4,116 stateless persons in Greater Beirut and 1,138 in Mount Lebanon, amounting to 5,254 stateless individuals mapped in these two regions. • 93% of the identified stateless individuals are actually located in 6 main areas across Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon, living variously in informal settlements, low-income neighborhoods, camps and their adjacent gatherings in and around Beirut, as well as in significant hotspots around Iqlim el Kharroub and Coastal Chouf within Mount Lebanon. © 2023 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.