All Ears to the Ground Rakhine State Myanmar, special registration procedures put in place while township offices were shut due to conflict, were only made available to non-Muslims, denying Rohingyas access. 49 In Syria, non-recognition of registration procedures conducted by different state and non-state entities was used to deny legitimacy to associated administrations and armed groups, affecting specific groups. As such civil registration can be integral to conflicts.50 The fifth mode of citizenship violence relates to the conditionalities placed on ID issuance, naturalisation and citizenship acquisition. Naturalisation in some circumstances is offered to a limited number of individuals affected by statelessness. In some cases, it can mean the denial of one’s group identity or denial of one’s belonging to a particular territory. This can create intra-group hierarchies, divisions and split loyalties. Syria’s move to naturalise some stateless Kurds in 2011 was only extended to ajanib or red identity card holders, and required them to assume an Arab name and identity. 51 Myanmar’s National Verification Cards (‘NVCs’) were provided ostensibly as a step towards naturalisation for Rohingyas with documentary proof of their ties to the country.52 The cards, which were mandatory, labelled the vast majority of Rohingyas as foreigners who needed to apply for citizenship. The application process required Rohingyas to deny their group identity in order to be considered for a second-class form of citizenship. 53 The issuance of passports and identity documents in Palestine followed a different path, but one that was also paved with state violence. Following on from the Oslo Accords in 1993, Palestinian Authorities were able to issue passports from 1995 onwards. Nonetheless, Israel maintained control over the population registries and was able to assert dominance over the ID systems, borders and surveillance.54 With power structures remaining firmly entrenched, Palestinian Authorities were widely viewed as having been coopted to entrench 49 50 51 52 53 54 Kathy Win and Natalie Brinham, Dangerous Journeys through Myanmar: Insecurities and Immobilities for Rohingya Women in Post-Coup Myanmar (Briefing Paper, ISI, 2022) 6 <https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/publications/dangerous-journeys-through-myanmarinsecurities-and-immobility-fo>, archived at <perma.cc/VMG8-FFQ5>. William Grant-Brook, ‘Documenting life amidst the Syrian War: Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s Performance of Statehood through Identity Documents’ (2023) 27(7) Citizenship Studies 850; Sarah Adamczyk and Jessica Doumit, ‘Legal identity in Limbo: Humanitarian Challenges and Responses to Civil Documentation Issued by De Facto Authorities in Northwest Syria’ (2023) 27(7) Citizenship Studies 866; McGee (n 36). Bahram, Between Home and Exile (n 31) Brinham, Citizenship and Genocide Cards (n 4) 194. Fortify Rights (n 20); Richard Potter and Kyaw Win, ‘National Verification Cards: A Barrier to Rohingya Repatriation’ (Report, Burma Human Rights Network, 2019) <https://bhrn.org.uk/report/1090-national-verification-cards-a-barrier-to-rohingyarepatriation-full-report.html>, archived at <perma.cc/6Q34-RQTE>. Neve Gordon, ‘Israel’s Emergence as a Homeland Security Capital’ in Ella Zureik, David Lyoin and Yasmeen Abu-Laban (eds), Surveillance and Control in Israel/Palestine: Population, Territory and Power (Routledge 2011); Lyon, Identification, Colonialism and Control (n 22). 15