25. Many children born in territories that were outside the control of the Syrian government have therefore often not acquired birth certificates and other forms of documentation recognized by the Syrian government and are at heightened risk of statelessness.32 26. In 2016, investigative journalists in Syria reported on the situation of children of undetermined paternity living in poverty with their Syrian mothers and sleeping in public parks.33 These children were reportedly born outside marriage or born to a father who subsequently went missing due to the conflict situation. The article described challenges faced by mothers lacking proof of the father’s identity, whereabouts, or their marriage when trying to register their children. Following this coverage, it was reported by the same source, as well as the official Syrian state news agency in June 2018, that the People's Council had approved the passing of a new law (The Law Regarding the Care of Children of Undermined Paternity) to grant Syrian nationality to children of undetermined paternity.34 However, there is a lack of information regarding the implementation of this new law, and it should also be highlighted that such children would automatically be recorded as being Sunni Muslim (the majority religion) on the basis that the father’s religion could not be identified. 27. Furthermore, the conflict has led to widespread sexual violence and marriages to foreign fighters, and children born from such circumstances are especially at risk of statelessness. The UN Secretary General recently reported that women “who conceived children as a result of rape faced difficulties in obtaining official documentation for their children, placing them at heightened risk of statelessness.”35 Syrian women who married foreign fighters voluntarily or under duress have also encountered difficulties registering their children. These children are not entitled to their mother’s nationality under Syrian law, and in many cases they cannot obtain their father’s nationality, either. Even where children should legally receive their father’s nationality, many foreign fighters have died or disappeared, sometimes without their wives knowing their legal names, making it difficult for mothers to obtain proper documentation for their children.36 Kurdish Population 28. In 1962, the Syrian Government carried out a discriminatory census, which stripped an estimated 120,000 Kurds living in Syria’s north-eastern Hassaka governorate of their citizenship, “on the pretext 32 International Rescue Committee, “Identify Me: The Documentation Crisis in Northern Syria,” July 2016, available at: https://www.rescue-uk.org/report/identify-me-documentation-crisis-northern-syria. 33 Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, “Syria’s Fatherless Children,” 9 October 2016, available at: https://en.arij.net/investigation/syrias-fatherless-children/ . 34 Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, “The Syrian People's Council approves to grant citizenship to [children] of unknown paternity”, 13 June 2018, available at: https://arij.net/news/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AD-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%8A/. 35 Security Council, ‘Conflict-related sexual violence: Report of the Secretary General,’ S/2021/312 (30 March 2021), para. 57. 36 Nisan Ahmado, “Kids of IS Fighters, Syrian Mothers Face Uncertainty,” 26 April 2019, available at: https://www.voanews.com/a/children-born-of-is-foreign-fighters-syrian-mothers-face-uncertain-futures/4893810.html. 8