Syrian Citizenship Disappeared and departments of Civil Status Affairs began to receive tens of thousands of applications for the acquisition of citizenship from both ajanib and maktumeen. By the end of May 2018, 326 489 ajanib had acquired the Syrian nationality, while 19 753 of them remained stateless for many reasons, such as living abroad or losing their documents fully. « With regard to maktumeen, the same source denied the Syrian government’s allegations on its lack of knowledge of their numbers: “The Directorate of Civil Status Affairs in al-Hasakah used to rely on the records of the makhateer during the previous decades, who were responsible for issuing identification certificates for the maktumeen. The number of maktumeen, has reached more than 171 300 as of 2011, 50 400 of whom obtained Syrian nationality after resolving their legal status by becoming ajanib and then Syrian citizens. However, some 41 000 maktumeen were unable to rectify their legal status owing to problems encountered by the personal status department during the registration process, and there are still almost 5 000 people who choose not to submit, mostly immigrants.” der Decree No. 49 of 7 April 2011, will be conscripted as soon as the law comes into force. Article II: All those born in 1993, who were covered by Article I, may be granted oneyear postponement, beginning from the date of the issuance of this decree in order to regularize their conscription status. Article III: The naturalized Kurds born before 1993 will be exempted from military service and written off. Article IV: The present Decree will come into force on the date of its issuance.59 The IDs the ajanib al-Hasakah received were marked by the inclusion of the number 8 after the registration number: to read 8/xx. 14. The naturalized Kurds and the exemption of the military service: On 29 December 2011, al-Thawra official newspaper published a report entitled 105 152 naturalization applications and 67 525 identity cards given: Regularizing the nationalized’ conscription status. The report included the details of the Presidential Decree No. 149 of 24 December 2011, which stated: Article I: Every Kurdish man of eligible age (born in 1993 or thereafter), who was granted the Syrian Arab nationality un- 20 Photo of the military booklet of a man who was born in 1983 and written off in January 2012, with “He was written off under the Presidential Decree No.149 of 22 December 2011” written on it. Photo credit: STJ 59 105152 naturalization applications and 67525 given identity cards…Regularizing the nationalized’ conscription status” al-Thawra newspaper, Thursday, 29 December 2011 http://thawra.sy/_print_veiw.asp?FileName=32599405720111229004034 (Last visit: 6 August 2018).