Legal Identity and Housing, Land and Property Rights of Syrian Refugees from a Durable Solutions Perspective Challenges and Opportunities Box 4: Challenges related to missing persons Refugee families with missing relatives face increased legal protection challenges, attributed to several factors, including: a reluctance to approach Syrian authorities to report or even ask about the missing, a fear of being arrested during the process, a lack of awareness of the reporting mechanisms, a lack of required identity documents and evidence to prove someone is missing, and the risk of financial extortion by intermediaries. The status of missing persons and/or the lack of proof of death affects the legal and social safety of the family, in particular of wives who are unable to remarry, obtain child custody, and enjoy their inheritance rights, and of children who are unable to demonstrate their legal connection with their fathers, resulting in a heightened risk of statelessness. 3.1.2 Coping mechanisms & risks I wanted to get a birth “certificate for my child, but here in Jordan you cannot get a birth certificate for a newborn unless you have a marriage contract… that’s why I had to get a falsified marriage contract. 103 “ Syrian refugee in Jordan Photo: NRC When unable to access the civil documentation they need, refugees may resort to coping mechanisms that can put them at further risk, such as engaging intermediaries, or travelling to Syria to access or obtain documents. Acting, or making decisions based on misinformation can also contribute to increased risks for refugees. The use of fraudulent Syrian and host country documents has emerged as both a coping strategy and an unwanted consequence for some refugees. Refugees unable to issue, replace, or update documents through adequate legal and administrative procedures may resort to obtaining or using fraudulent documents. Refugees can also inadvertently end up with fraudulent documents by ‘acting outside’ of the prescribed processes to obtain or update documentation. It is often unclear whether a document obtained through an intermediary has been validly issued by authorities or not. The type and level of documentation that refugees possess and particular gender issues were identified as driving factors for refugees who obtained or used fraudulent documents.103 In the context of child marriages, spouses may also resort to the use of false documentation to register their children. Refugees who possess and use fraudulent documents face significant short- and long-term consequences that can complicate their legal status, risk criminal penalties for themselves and family members and, as such, present barriers to accessing durable solutions.104 Losing money and original documents, imprisonment, fines, and, in extreme cases, deportation were reported. Refugees who are unaware their documents are fraudulent are at risk of legal prosecution when presenting these documents to an authority. 104 KII for joint UNHCR/NRC regional research, 2020. Syrian stateless Kurds, refugee children born in host countries who have a fraudulent birth certificate or have been falsely registered under the name of different parents and Palestinian refugees from Syria were identified as being particularly vulnerable and potentially reliant on fraudulent documents. For male refugees, the fear of compulsory military conscription or the perception of being affiliated with an opposition group were key driving factors behind obtaining fraudulent documentation. Female refugees were commonly motivated to use fraudulent documents to meet an important need like accessing healthcare during pregnancy and childbirth or claiming guardianship. Forgery and falsification of documents are considered a crime under Syrian, Iraqi, Jordanian, and Lebanese laws. The laws make a common and critical distinction between the use of a forged document and the act of forgery. The forgery of official documents, including civil documents (e.g., birth certificates) and judicial/ administrative documents, is considered a felony, whereas the issuance of false certified documents (e.g., birth notifications) by qualified persons, including health workers, lawyers, mukhtars, religious figures and judicial police, is classified as a misdemeanour. 17