Buried Alive: Stateless Kurds in Syria

Overview

Syria is at a critical crossroads, faced with a timely opportunity to maintain stability and security in the country by realizing the nationality and its concomitant rights of all residents. In particular, an estimated 300,000 stateless Kurds live within the country’s borders, but are in a unique situation in relation to the larger Kurdish population due to a 1962 census that led to their denationalization.

The lack of nationality and identity documents means that stateless Kurds, for all practical purposes, are rendered non-existent. Their basic rights to education, employment, property ownership, political participation, and legal marriage are severely limited, relegating them to the outermost margins of Syrian civil society. “It is like being buried alive,” said one man.

In an attempt to mitigate the desperation of their plight, some Kurds have begun to mobilize themselves to advocate for their recognition. Others take tremendous risks to leave Syria illegally and seek opportunities abroad. However, those caught may be deported back, imprisoned, and subjected to harsh treatment. Individuals who actively tried to change the situation for stateless Kurds have also been detained and tortured.

In his speech on November 10, 2005, President Bashar Al-Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic said that he wants to resolve issues of nationality in the Hassakeh region. “We will solve this issue soon in an expression of the importance of national unity in Syria.” But over the years, many government promises about resolving the plight of stateless Kurds have been made and broken. “Promises are made by the authorities, but in practical life there are no changes,” one
stateless man told Refugees International.

While the Syrian government deserves credit for decades of assistance to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and now to the growing number of Iraqi refugees present on their territory due to the ongoing crisis in Iraq, it must recognize in a concrete way the rights of hundreds of thousands of individual Kurds within its own borders who have been arbitrarily denied the right to Syrian nationality. The Syrian government needs to repeal all draconian restrictions on the free expression of Kurdish cultural identity and grant citizenship to individuals who lack it.

President Al-Assad needs to make good on his promises now. For 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.

Refugees International recommends that:

The Government of Syria

• Take immediate and concrete steps to fulfill the promise to grant citizenship to all individuals lacking effective nationality in accordance with Article 3 of the Syrian Nationality Act and international law.
• Repeal all laws and decrees which deny Kurdish people in Syria the right to enjoy their own culture and language.
• Begin a program of reparations and development for Kurds who lost property and status in 1962 that is at the same time sensitive to the rights of Arab occupants.
• Ensure every child born in Syria has the right to acquire a nationality and is not stateless.
• Enact legislation to permit passage of nationality from mother to child.
• Become party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Prevention of Statelessness.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees

• Broaden its focus and operations to include stateless persons in addition to refugees as mandated.
• Work with the Syrian government to end statelessness in the country, including affected Kurds.
• Provide relief consistent with its agency mandate to address stateless people.
• Identify a staff team to work actively on ending statelessness in Syria.
• Open UN HCR branch offices in regions of the country where statelessness is most severe.

The United States & Concerned Governments

• Establish a clear policy on Kurds in Syria, urging the Syrian government to resolve the statelessness issue.
• Refuse to become party to agreements with Syria until the fundamental rights of Kurds are upheld, particularly the EU’s formation of the Mediterranean Partnership with Syria.
• Include more details on conditions faced by stateless persons in annual human rights reports.
• Support the development of civil organizations, including ones to achieve greater communication and understanding between Syrian Arabs and Kurds.