Syrian Citizenship Disappeared types of nationalities. First, it provided that “any person of Turkish origin and living in Syria on the 31 August 1924 is from now on considered to be Syrian and loses their Turkish citizenship”. Second, the arrêté provided that people of Turkish nationality, of Syrian origins and living abroad on the 31 August 1924 could request the Syrian citizenship. This provision aimed at including immigrants who had left Syria in the building of the new country. Thirdly, the arrêté provided that once the husband obtained the French nationality, his wife and children automatically became Syrians alongside him. In January 1925, the French High Commissioner concluded his work on Syrian nationality, addressing in his arrêté 16/S the conditions of acquisition and loss of Syrian nationality, mainly based on jus sanguini, as article 1, establishing Syrian nationality for children from a Syrian father born in Syria or abroad, demonstrates.13 Under the mandate of a foreign power, a broad range of religiously and ethnically diverse communities, including Druzes, Kurds, Arabs, Circassians, Armenians, Assyrians, Alawites, Ismailis, and Turkmen, thus became Syrians. To date, however, they failed to create a Syrian nation. The first adopted Citizenship Act No. 98, prepared by Syrian Jurists, was issued on 21 May 1951. It was followed by a further Act by Decree No. 21 of 24 February 1953, subsequently amended by Act No. 492 of 16 February 1957. The Syrian nationality was traditionally ruled by Arabic traditions, that it used to be granted by decent, taking into account the position of women in Islamic jurisprudence and some rules of the French legislature. The outcome of the first interaction between two Arab Acts on nationality was the Act No. 82 promulgated on 22 July 1958, on the year of the establishment of the unity between Egypt and Syria, and was then prepared by Egyptian and Syrian jurists. 14 13 Joseph M. Haddad, The Syrian Nationality (Beirut: American University of Beirut, 1942); Shadi Jame, Le régime de la nationalité en droit syrien et en droit français: étude de droit comparé entre domination coloniale et droit international contemporain (Nantes: Université de Nantes, 2011) 14 Ibid. After the collapse of the United Arab Republic in 1961, the so-called “Separatist Movement” issued The Nationality Law by Legislative Decree No. 67, on 31 November 1961. Upon the Ba’th-Party taking on power, the Legislative Decree No. 276, providing for the nationality Law15 was promulgated on 24 November 1969 and is still in force today with some subsequent amendments.16 According to Radwan Sido, lawyer, it is important, when talking about the special census and its consequences, to define “nationality” as a term and to clarify the difference between the ajanib and maktumeen. One of the definition of nationality states that it is the political and legal link between the individual and his state. By obtaining nationality, the individual thus becomes one of the state’s constituent, Such link, obviously, does not exist between the stateless and the state. Ajanib al-Hasakah (al-Hasakah foreigners) were issued “red cards” with “his/her name wasn’t listed among Syrian Arabs according to the 1962 census” written on them. The “red card” prevents its holder from exercising their rights, for example it prevents their to travel abroad or to return to the country. As for the “maktumeen”, they were not registered in any official records, meaning that granting them basic documents such as identification certificates or residence permits requires the approval of the Political Security Directorate.17 15 For more info see: “Decree No. 276 of 1969 on Syrian Arab Nationality”, website of the Syrian Parliament (last visit: 10 August 2018). http://parliament.gov.sy/laws/Decree/1969/civil_01.htm 16 Haytham Manna, Stateless People in Syria (non-Palestinian refugees), Arab Commission for Human Rights, third edition 2014. (last visit: 10 August 2018). http:// hem.bredband.net/dccls2/r1.htm#_%D8%A7%D9%84%D 8%AC%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%81%D9% 8A_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86 %D9%8A%D9%86 . 17 Radwan Sido is a lawyer, born in 1973, from Qamishli/Qamisho city, he began practicing law since 2000, serves as a human rights and political activist. Meetings were conducted via Internet on 5 August 2018. 9