RECLAIMING FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Stateless people are denied legal personality and they struggle to provide identification documents to facilitate their mobility. Yet, in practice, the impact on freedom of movement seems rather minor for the surveyed stateless in Akkar. • The identification documents requested at checkpoints are usually national identity cards, civil registry extracts or, in the case of stateless people, ta’arif and QeD documents. The first two are inaccessible for stateless people, while ta’arif and QeD documents sometimes pass at the discretion of the security personnel at checkpoints. • Sixty one percent of stateless in Akkar express a fear of checkpoints, out of which 55% claim to avoid movement as a result. However, 79% out of the latter leave their villages daily, weekly, or monthly. This fear of checkpoints is hence managed, as these individuals have to come and go to serve their basic needs and access services. • Overall, 83% leave their village daily, weekly or monthly (down to 75% for women respondents while there are no variations between age groups), while 79% state that they leave Akkar (74% among women). This is similar to the degree to which Lebanese in Akkar say they leave their village (88%) and go out of Akkar (83%). • So, despite the potential impact statelessness could cause to freedom of movement, it appears that most stateless in Akkar are able to come and go with relative ease, especially when compared to mobility of stateless persons in Tripoli. The 2019 study found that 60% of Tripoli’s stateless never leave the area, as opposed to 21% of Akkari stateless who never leave their district. For those who do, as mentioned by mukhtars and a majority of respondents, their ta’arif certificates are more often than not accepted at checkpoints. Stateless Lebanese 83% (leave their village) 79% (leave Akkar) Proportion of respondents who leave their village and district daily, weekly or monthly 88% (leave their village) 83% (leave Akkar) 61% of stateless in Akkar express a fear of checkpoints © 2021 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.