Conclusions and Recommendations Statelessness is a significant issue amongst Syrian Kurds in displacement in KRI. One in twelve Syrian refugees in Dohuk lacks Syrian citizenship, including 72 percent of ajanib who would be entitled to claim it under the 2011 law. While the KRI legal framework offers legal protections to all Syrian Kurdish refugees and is the first legal residency many maktoumeen and ajanib have ever held, this does change their stateless status, nor the obstacles to durable solutions that statelessness poses. This is evident in the challenges stateless Syrian Kurds face in accessing education and livelihoods, burdens they carry with them into displacement. Additionally, the legal status of stateless Kurds from Syria in KRI is temporary and does not protect stateless Kurds who return home or leave KRI for a third country. In Syria, maktoumeen still do not have legal pathways to citizenship. For stateless Syrians who travel onwards to other countries where they intend to seek legal protection, they are likely to face lack of recognition of the distinction between maktoumeen and ajanib and knowledge gaps around the barriers facing ajanib who are legally eligible but unwilling or unable to travel to Syria to apply. The recommendations below focus on protections for stateless Syrian Kurds at the domestic and international levels: Kurdistan Regional Government: • Clarify mechanisms for stateless Syrian Kurdish refugees to register vital events in KRI without civil documentation, such as marriage and inheritance claims. Government of Iraq and Government of Syria: • Provide a safe pathway for Syrian refugees in KRI to access the Syrian Embassy in Baghdad without residency or travel authorisation in Federal Iraq or support a diplomatic visit from Embassy staff to KRI to allow Syrians to renew or obtain documentation. • Drop the requirement of physical presence in a Government of Syria controlled area and allow ajanib residing in KRI to apply for Syrian citizenship from abroad. Conclusions and Recommendations 13 16