Refugees International Report Urges Syria to Grant Citizenship to
300,000 Stateless Kurds
Report: Refugeesinternational
Washington, DC:
The Syrian government must take immediate steps to fulfill its promise
to grant citizenship to stateless Kurds, Refugees International said in
a new report. Buried Alive: Stateless Kurds in Syria describes the
numerous difficulties faced by the estimated 300,000 Kurds who lost or
never had citizenship to the country in which they live. Noting that the
economic and social marginalization of such a large population decreases
the stability of the country and region, the report calls on the
Government of Syria, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the
United States to take concrete actions to end statelessness in Syria.
"Syria is denying its Kurdish population numerous fundamental human
rights by refusing to address these issues of nationality," said Maureen
Lynch, Director of Research for Refugees International and author of
Buried Alive. "Although President Bashar Al-Assad has said that he wants
to resolve this problem, few actions have been taken to reinstate
nationality for the Kurdish people in Syria. As a result, stateless
Kurds in Syria feel like they have been buried alive."
Buried Alive: Stateless Kurds in Syria outlines the numerous human
rights that remain unrealized for stateless Kurds. This includes
irregular access to education, health care, and employment. Owning
businesses and property is difficult. Even registering a marriage,
traveling outside of the country or changing one's residence is a
particular challenge for Syrian Kurds. With few options left at their
disposal, some stateless Kurds risk death, deportation and imprisonment
by attempting to leave the country with false passports, or by paying
human smugglers hefty fees.
"After finishing university, the painful life began," one stateless
Kurdish man told Refugees International. "We saw our classmates and
friends get jobs and buy houses... Now I am 43 years old. I am a lawyer
by training, but I, my wife, and children work in a shop moving heavy
appliances."
Some Syrian Kurds lost their citizenship and became stateless during a
1962 census in the Hassakeh governate. The census reflected a political
agenda to Arabize the northeast. To retain their citizenship, Kurds had
to prove residence in Syria prior to 1945, but many Kurds with proof of
residence lost their nationality anyway. An estimated 120,000 people or
about 20 percent of Syrian Kurds lost their citizenship as a result of
this census, a number which has since more than doubled to approximately
300,000. Many who lost their nationality also later lost their property.
"Only when the stateless Kurds in Syria have been fully nationalized and
the broader issue of the Kurdish place in Syrian political, social and
economic life has been addressed can peace and security within Syria be
realized," Lynch said. "Equality will help facilitate unity."
Buried Alive: Stateless Kurds in Syria is based on information that
Refugees International obtained while traveling in Syria in the fall of
2005 and through extensive interviews
http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/publication/detail/7829
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