of statelessness in countries which only grant nationality on a very restrictive basis or which actively discriminate against such groups. Paralegals’ role in helping will depend in part on whether such exclusion is clearly and explicitly written in law, or whether it arises due to lack of clarity in the law or its implementing decrees and regulations, or due to bad practices. Paralegals’ options to help may include: • Working with lawyer-led legal aid or programs that bring litigation challenging the law and regulations. •A  dvocating at the local level that child protection or due process standards require a more inclusive definition, and arguing that officials should apply those laws instead of more exclusive citizenship rules. • Advocating for registration on the basis of international conventions on birth registration, statelessness, and the right to a nationality. If a state has ratified a treaty but retains domestic laws that violate it, international law should take precedence if the state is required to follow international law over domestic law. There may be recourse to international courts or tribunals or other human rights protection mechanisms in such cases. • Participating in organized, collective political action, which may be effective in pushing for the community’s inclusion. Assisting clients in more inclusive nationality regimes When states that have inclusive nationality laws—for example unrestricted jus soli laws or progressive naturalization procedures for adults—but nonetheless have denied clients nationality, advocacy strategies may target local decision-makers. Paralegal programs can increase their impact through the following: • Focusing client work on providing information about documentation, accompanying clients through administrative procedures, and handling many cases. CASE STUDY Many Syrian refugees in Jordan are unable to get birth certificates for their children because they do not have marriage certificates, which is a prerequisite for obtaining a birth certificate. Sometimes these have been lost or destroyed in the conflict; in other cases, parents have had a “sheikh marriage” in Syria that is not formally registered. Without birth certificates, children are often unable to access health services, attend school, obtain social assistance services, remain legally resident in Jordan, or prove their Syrian nationality. NRC Jordan provides paralegal assistance to refugees, including referring cases to legal aid lawyers for court representation so that refugees can obtain a “marriage ratification order” confirming their marriage. This allows the children to obtain birth certificates. • Describing citizenship as an issue of human rights, humanitarian assistance, or development—whatever leads to acceptance of citizenship rights. • Letting clients know about processes that might apply to their situation and how to access them. Some states have created specialized naturalization procedures to address known gaps in an inclusive set of laws, and many clients may not know the procedures exist or how to use them. Protecting clients whose strongest ties are to another country Relatively few stateless people in the world live in a country while having their strongest ties with another country. However, some programs target this group. Paralegals may focus for example on ensuring that clients have access to civil registration or other forms of identity registration and documentation in the country where they are, without reference DISCRIMINATION EMPOWERMENT SUSTAINABILITY DATA RELATED RESOURCES (EXTERNAL) RELATED SECTIONS (WITHIN) A C O M M U N I T Y- B A S E D P R A C T I T I O N E R ’ S G U I D E : D O C U M E N T I N G C I T I Z E N S H I P A N D OT H E R F O R M S O F L E G A L I D E N T I T Y | 1 03