DOM STATELESSNESS IN NUMBERS Demographic estimates from the fieldwork determined that 25% of the stateless in Akkar have Dom origins. While many were naturalized in 1994, a significant minority remain stateless. • A majority of Dom stateless respondents say they are MeQ (53%). Despite many having been naturalized in 1994, they tend not to register their children at birth (36% of respondents say they are unregistered). This is partly explained by their traditional way of life, living at the margins of mainstream society. • The demographic mapping of the research estimated there to be around 850 stateless persons with Dom origins, accounting for at least 24% of Akkar’s stateless persons. • Dom statelessness remains highly understudied. Terre des Hommes published one of the only studies regarding this issue. It estimated that 28% of the Dom in Lebanon remain stateless. • Many of the surveyed mukhtars believe that most of the Dom acquired the Lebanese nationality in 1994. Their personal estimations ranged between 75% and 90%. The Dom of El Kouweichra, a case study: Field work suggested that the level of statelessness among the Dom is exaggerated. By canvassing the hotspot of Dom settlements around the lake of El Kouweichra, the team could roughly determine the level of Dom statelessness in the region. Below is a summary of the main findings: ➔ Total number of estimated Dom living around the lake: 1,500 persons, regardless of status. of (This number was calculated by counting all Dom tents and inhabitants on the basis average members per tent). ➔ The total number of Dom stateless captured around the lake was 256 persons. ➔ This makes the proportion of statelessness among Dom in this settlement around 17%. ➔ A limitation should be noted here: many Dom could be of Syrian origins or children born from mixed marriages. The difficulties to precisely determine this is linked to their evasiveness. Reference: Terre des Hommes, Insan (2011). The Dom People and Their Children in Lebanon. 850+ of Akkari stateless are Dom Which represents 24% of total stateless captured in the field Underage marriage among adult Dom stateless respondents (39%) is significantly higher than among total of stateless (24%). Of the adult Dom stateless respondents, 74% never went to school – a significantly higher proportion than among all stateless (39%). © 2021 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.