Findings
One in twelve Syrian refugees in
Dohuk are maktoumeen or ajanib
Household surveys and key informant interviews with camp managers,
community leaders, and ajanib and maktoumeen themselves suggest
the number of stateless Syrians living in Dohuk governorate to be 6,865
out of 85,808, or 8 percent of the Syrian refugee population6. Of all
households surveyed, 5.3 percent reported that they are maktoumeen,
and 2.3 percent reported that they are ajanib who have either obtained
Syrian citizenship since 2011 or still not obtained citizenship.
Nearly three-quarters of ajanib who
qualify for citizenship under the
2011 law have not applied for it
Of respondents who indicated that they are ajanib, 72 percent indicated
that they had not applied for citizenship despite qualifying for it under
the 2011 law. Sixty-seven percent of those who have not obtained
citizenship stated that the primary reason was that they fled Syria before
they were able to apply for citizenship. Fourteen percent indicated they
did not feel they could safely return to initiate the process, while another
14 percent stated they did not know how to apply for citizenship. Lastly,
five percent indicated that cost was the main barrier. In focus group
discussions, respondents indicated that returning to Syria to acquire
citizenship was not possible for a range of reasons: for men who had not
completed compulsory military service, initiating an application would
entail the risk of arrest when interacting with Syrian authorities in both
Government of Syria and Self Administration areas and women in focus
group discussions indicated that cost was a primary concern.
Findings
9
12