Syrian Citizenship Disappeared was terrified when one of the officers closed the windows and doors and enquired about the branch I would study. I replied English Literature, and he asked why not Arabic Literature. I replied that it was the only branch that accepted me. Many people in Damascus knew nothing about the Kurds stateless.”82 Khlid Ismael, was born in Qamishli in 1998. He is a mechanic and attempted repeatedly to resolve his legal status as maktum but in vain. Nothing has changed so far. He explained to STJ that he could not complete his education: “We were stripped of everything. I was deprived of many rights, notably the right to education. I studied until the ninth grade only because I knew all my efforts would be vain. I had few work opportunities as a consequence.”83 Midia Hasan, using an alias for safety reasons, was born in al-Hasakah in 1995. She finally obtained the Syrian citizenship after paying large amounts of money, but as a maktumah, she was not able to complete her education: “Although I was an outstanding student at high school, they refused to give me the diploma. All I received was a paper proving my success under which I enrolled at the Sport Institute located in al-Hasakah. Matters were getting complicated each time I wanted to travel outside the province to participate in trips or sport leagues due to lacking the ID. At last, I quit the institute.”84 Suhaila Mohammed Ali was born in al-Hasakah in 1987 and is a stateless maktumah. Upon finishing high school, she enrolled at the Health Institute located in al-Hasakah, aware that the only way for her to receive her diploma was to receive the unlikely approval from the Council of 82 STJ’s field researcher conducted direct interview with her in July 2018. 83 STJ’s field researcher conducted a direct interview with him in al-Hasakah province in July 2018. 84 STJ’s field researcher conducted a direct interview 28 Ministers. She has therefore no certification of her graduates studies.85 Soheil Mohammed was born in al-Hasakah in 1973. He is married with four children and works as a blacksmith. He was maktum but after paying bribes estimated SYP 200,000 to the officers at the Personal Status Department located in al-Hasakah, he acquired the Syrian nationality in 2014. His status impeded him, too, to pursue his education: “I dropped out from school at the intermediate stage. I was given no diplomas for the previous stages as well. When I acquired the citizenship, I went to the Department of Examination for my intermediate certificate to be able to apply for the high school exams, but they asked for prohibitive conditions such as bringing four persons over 50 years old to witness that I had passed the intermediate school, in addition to bringing the head teacher and a teacher from the school where I studied, which was quite complicated. I deplored my situation as my friends went to university.”86 Mahmoud Ali Ali was born in Amouda city in 1953. He is married with ten children, and works in an electrical supplies store. As an ajnabi, he faced many obstacles until the application of Decree No. 49 granted him citizenship. For Mahmoud, consequences of statelessness will impact him all his life for nor he, or his children, were able to complete their education: “I did not go beyond the secondary stage because I learned I would not get any diplomas. Whenever I registered my children for school, I was asked for a special paper from the mukhtar and an approval from the Department of Education. This process always delayed my children with her in al-Hasakah in July 2018. 85 STJ’s field researcher conducted a direct interview with her in al-Hasakah city in July 2018. 86 STJ’s field researcher conducted direct interview with him in al-Hasakah city in July 2018.