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Syrian Kurds: People Who Do Not Exist
30.3.2008
By Sherko Abbas |
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March 30, 2008
The month of March brought death and torture to
Kurds instead of the celebration of life that
normally heralds the beginning of new Kurdish year,
traditionally commemorated on the first day of
spring. In fact, in all four parts of Kurdistan
(Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey), Kurds suffered this
month more than at other times by virtue of the fact
that this is the month when the Kurds celebrate
their national day or Newroz "New Kurdish year" and
have gathered to protest against tyranny and
oppression. This trend started in March 12, 2004,
when there was the first full-scale Kurdish uprising
in the whole Kurdish Region of Syria where more than
85 people were killed, hundreds were injured, and
thousands were arrested after…….. In 2005, 2006,
2007, and most recently on March 20, 2008, Kurds
were also killed and injured during the season of
Newroz.
These outcries stem from the denial of human rights
of a people are not recognized, Syrian Kurds. Twice
in recent months, President Bashar Al-Assad was in a
position to resolve the plight of more than a
quarter of a million stateless people in Syria who
struggle to survive without citizenship. |
Dr Sherkoh Abbas is the President of the Kurdistan
National Assembly of Syria. |
Since the Iraqi liberation, hundreds of thousands of
Kurds demonstrate daily and demand democracy in
Syria for all Syrians, the granting of rights for
Kurds, reversing ethnic cleansing policies and
granting autonomy to the Kurdish Region. His failure
to act means continued hardship for Kurds who have
been stripped of their nationality, despite the fact
they have resided in Syria since well before the
creation of the modern state. “All I want is to have
my childhood,” one boy explained. But without proof
of citizenship, stateless individuals cannot enjoy
their basic rights. Children do not have regular
access to education or healthcare. For adults,
formal employment is impossible. They cannot travel
freely in the country much less outside. Some
individuals risk their lives in dangerous and
expensive attempts to find a way out of Syria.
As a whole, Kurds in Syria face obstacles to
securing rights, but this group is in a unique
position. They cannot own property, have passports,
vote, be publicly employed, or even practice certain
professions. One can find a doctor selling tea on
the street and a teacher transporting flour sacks.
Child labor is not uncommon, and youngsters can look
forward to picking cotton, selling cigarettes and
shining shoes. They are not eligible for food
subsidies or admission to public hospitals.
Kurdish statelessness in Syria originated in 1962
when a census was conducted in the northeastern
region ostensibly to identify "alien infiltrators"
who had crossed the Turkish border since 1945. It
was actually one component of a campaign to
“Arabize” this resource-rich area, then primarily
populated by non-Arabs or Kurds.
The census was undertaken in an arbitrary manner,
resulting in situations in which brothers from the
same family, born in the same Syrian village, were
classified differently. Fathers became foreigners,
while their sons remained citizens, or vice versa.
Kurds who had served in the Syrian army lost
citizenship, while families who were able to bribe
officials kept theirs.
As a consequence, more than 120,000 people, or about
20 percent of the Syrian Kurdish population at the
time, were rendered stateless. Some were also
displaced to make way for Arab settlements.
Thousands of people went to sleep as Syrians and
woke up to find they were no longer citizens. They
became foreigners (or ajanib in Arabic) in their own
country. Over time the number of denationalized
Syrian Kurds has multiplied to over 300,000. Without
legal ties to any country, they are stateless under
international law.
Stateless Kurds are particularly incensed by
inhumane restrictions placed on their right to
marry. Many couples are deemed single by the state,
and as a consequence are prevented from registering
their children,www.ekurd.net
much less sharing a room in a hotel. Approximately
100,000 maktoumeen (children of unrecognized
marriages who have no documents at all) are
invisible and subjected to abuse at the hands of
authorities.
With so few options for survival, stateless Kurds
seek opportunities abroad, taking tremendous risks
to leave Syria by entrusting their safety to human
smugglers and pay $3,000 to $12,000 to crime rings,
believing that the hardship of living illegally in
other countries would be preferable to the
hopelessness of their situation in Syria. A few even
seek international protection as refugees.
Over the years, there have been plenty of
opportunities to resolve the plight of stateless
people in Syria. After the March 2004 uprising in
the Kurdish Region of Syria and in a speech marking
the beginning of his second presidential mandate,
President Al-Assad said, "There is a consensus in
Syria on the need to resolve the question of the
1962 census.” He told the parliament that new
legislation was being drafted.
In late 2007 the Syrian news agency SANA reported
that President Al-Assad ordered authorities to
distribute identification cards to more than 20,000
Druze residents in the Golan Heights who have
refused to accept Israeli citizenship in an effort
to "emphasize the belonging of the Syrian residents
of the Golan Heights to the Syrian motherland.” It
is ironic that President Al-Assad can seemingly
issue citizenship to one group with the single
stroke of pen but needs years of study to issue
citizenship to long-staying Kurds. Attempts to
encourage Syria to uphold its international
obligations are met with hollow promises or are
blithely ignored.
It should be recognized that Kurds are the largest
Syrian constituency seeking democracy and a new
constitution for Syria They are willing to do what
it takes to bring democracy to Syria and implement a
federalist government which will protect the rights
of all minorities.
President Al-Assad should take immediate steps to
grant citizenship to stateless individuals in
accordance with Article 3 of the Syrian Nationality
Act and its obligations under international law. The
U.S. should establish a clear policy on Kurds in
Syria and take its commitment to human rights
seriously enough to engage the Syrian government
until each person’s human rights to a nationality is
upheld.
Sherkoh Abbas is the President of the Kurdistan
National Assembly of Syria.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, The
Media Line, themedialine org
** Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria
making up 10% of the country's population i.e. about
two million.
Kurds in Syria often speak Kurdish in public,
unless all those present do not. Kurdish human
rights activists are mistreated and persecuted. No
political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish
or otherwise.
Suppression of ethnic identity of
Kurds in Syria include: various bans on the use of
the Kurdish language; refusal to register children
with Kurdish names; replacement of Kurdish place
names with new names in Arabic; prohibition of
businesses that do not have Arabic names; not
permitting Kurdish private schools; and the
prohibition of books and other materials written in
Kurdish.
More about Kurds in Syria - (Kurdistan-Syria)
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