Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Syria child who is born on Syrian territory who would otherwise be stateless; however, its application in practice is inadequate, including in the case of Syrian Kurds. It contains a number of problematic clauses that have directly increased the risk of statelessness for individuals within Syria, refugees who have fled Syria, and particularly for children born to unknown or stateless fathers. The following sections outline examples of why the Syrian Nationality Law is problematic and which clauses can directly lead to, or increase the risk of, statelessness. 3.1 Gender Discrimination Syria’s Nationality Law is primarily based on paternal jus sanguinis,17 thereby discriminating against women. The law states that a person is Syrian if they are born to a Syrian father. Article 3(a) states that Syrian nationality is acquired at birth by, “anyone born inside or outside the country to a Syrian Arab father.” There is no equivalent provision for Syrian mothers. Rather, Article 3(b) states that where the “legal family relationship” to a child’s father has “not been established” and the child is born inside Syria to a Syrian mother, that child is considered a Syrian citizen. While on first reading this article appears to be beneficial to children born to unknown fathers and Syrian mothers, in fact it only applies to children born inside Syria and to those whose fathers are unknown, not those whose fathers are stateless.18 In addition, there remain social repercussions for registering a child born out of wedlock. For example, Article 48 of the Syrian Personal Status Code states that Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men.19 Therefore, if a woman has a child as a result of such a relationship, this discriminatory provision of the Nationality Law would mean that the child would not automatically inherit their mother’s nationality. Further, Article 3(b) of the Nationality Law clearly does not apply to the children of refugees from Syria who are born in host countries, further limiting the ability of children to acquire a nationality at birth.20 Prior to the outbreak of conflict in Syria, civil organisations had been advocating for reforms to the Nationality Law, with a particular focus on removing the discriminatory provisions. For example, in 2004, a bill was presented to Parliament by the Syrian Women’s League, which Parliament voted against in 2008 on the basis that it was incompatible with Sharia Law.21 In 2011, the Syrian Women’s League again introduced a bill to make amendments to remove discrimination in the Nationality Law, which currently remains under review by the Syrian Government.22 Meaning “right of blood”, rather than jus soli meaning “right of the soil”, often referred to as “birthright citizenship.” For example, when the mother is a Syrian national and the father is maktum, the children would become maktumeen also. 19 Realistically, such a marriage could only be possible if Syria were to introduce civil marriage. While amendments were made to a significant number of articles of the Syrian Personal Status Code in March 2019 (Law No. 4 of 2019), Article 48 remains in place and there was no introduction of civil marriage. 20 For more information on the impact of this discrimination see, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, Submission to the Human Rights Council at its 26th Session of the Universal Periodic Review of Syria, 2016, available at: http://www.institutesi.org/SyriaUPR2016.pdf 21 Legal Agenda, Syrian Women’s Right to Pass Citizenship To Children: An Appraisal, 2016, available at: http://english.legalagenda.com/article.php?id=742&folder=articles&lang=en 22 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Civil Society Submission on the right of every child to acquire a nationality under Article 7 CRC, The Committee on the Rights of the Child, 1 March 2018, at p.5, available at: http://www.institutesi.org/CRC_Syria_2018.pdf 17 18 6