Syria

In Syria, Palestinian refugees experience intergenerational transference of statelessness through the birth registration process. Most states in the region have never offered them a pathway to acquiring nationality, as a means of supporting the Palestinian cause and eventual right to return. Prior to the 2011 outbreak of the civil war, over 550,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria were de jure stateless. The conflict in Syria led many thousands to abandon the country and seek international protection. Exclusion from citizenship added to the vulnerability of Palestinians fleeing from Syria. Since many hold UNRWA-issued IDs or Syrian travel documents only, they routinely have had their country of origin and status registered incorrectly by authorities in host countries (either as Syrian or of unknown nationality). Palestinians’ precarious status within Syria is compounded when doubly displaced, placing birth registration for newborns even further out of reach.