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Documentary On The Stateless Kurds of
Syria
26.9.2011
By Taghee Moas
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September 26, 2011
Amid the violence and brutality of the Syrian
authorities’ response to the country’s revolution,
pre-existing human rights violations are sometimes
forgotten. This is the case for the stateless Kurds
of Syria. Moreover, with access for international
journalists and rights groups severely restricted,
several sources have incorrectly – as this article
aims to demonstrate – reported that the problem of
statelessness has been solved since the Revolution
began. As the presidential decree to nationalize
those without documentation is limited in scope and
application, for many the plight continues.
The Stateless Kurds of
Syria
‘Tell my story to the people of your country. And
when you tell it, I want you to use my real name’
says our interviewee. Fully conscious of the danger
this might entail, he continues, ‘you might not be
able to give me an identity card, but you can give
me a name, a name that I can be proud of.’ Hesitant
to fulfill his request, I can only hope that
reproducing its expression may serve to some measure
the motivations of the speaker.
Such is the ethical dilemma faced when documenting
subjects whose very identity is considered
politically dangerous. The concern to portray group
identity while protecting that of the individual
without distortion of culture or personality is
particularly pressing in the case of my contact -
anonymous, as alas he must remain. For, he is one of
approximately 300,000 Kurds in Syria to have been
deprived of citizenship and civic rights by the
state. |
A Syrian Kurd holding his stateless ID. Photo by
John Ethan
A Syrian Kurd holding his stateless ID. Photo by
John Ethan |
The use of pseudonym and
pixilated representation would inappropriately
replicate the repressive state policies that have
long sought to replace, deform and eradicate the
distinctive identity and integrity of the Kurdish
community within Syria. Furthermore, a
representation that must negotiate its own
restrictions and obstacles is reflective of the way
many stateless Kurds are forced to experience
every-day life.
Without a recognized state of their own, the Kurds
in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the diaspora may
collectively constitute a ‘stateless nation’. For a
sub-group of the Kurds in Syria, statelessness is
absolute, as they are not officially recognized as
citizens of any state at all. This situation arose
in a context of discriminatory policies and forced
Arabisation. In 1962, the then Syrian government
executed an irregular, single-day census in al-Hassake
– the province with the highest concentration of
Kurdish inhabitants. The purported purpose of the
census was to identity those who had entered Syria
illegally since 1945. However, implementation was
inconsistent. Many in the largely agricultural
community were simply unaware that a census was
taking place; others were unable – at short notice –
to present documentation to substantiate claims
dating back more than seventeen years. Additionally,
some were suspicious of intentions behind the census
and refused to hand over documentation when the
outcome of doing so was unclear.
As such, the status of individuals was determined
somewhat arbitrarily, with members of the same
family often recognized differently. ‘My grandfather
and all his siblings’ explains our informant ‘were
born in Syria. While some of his brothers and
sisters kept their nationality, my grandfather and a
further two brothers were working in the fields and
did not attend.’
Almost half a century on, the impact of the census
in Syria is no less significant. For, statelessness
– just like nationality in Syria – is hereditary via
the father. The problem is further exacerbated by
the discretionary bias implicit within the
stratified structure of Syria’s stateless population
(see Facts and Figures: Inheritance Structure).
Practices of inherited statelessness constitute a
violation of human rights and are in direct
contravention of Syria’s own nationality law, which
understands a citizen to be ‘Anyone born in the
country to unknown parents or to parents with
unknown or no nationality.’
Another stateless Kurd summed up his predicament.
‘While I automatically inherited my father’s
statelessness at birth, I will be unable to inherit
his property when he dies. Our land has already been
confiscated and handed over to Arab settlers. The
Syrian government criticizes the Israelis in the
South, while they do the same in the North.’
For this individual and his family the effects of
statelessness are far-reaching. ‘Although I was
lucky enough to enter the university on the whim of
the college director’ he continues, ‘my studies will
be worthless, as I will not get a valid degree
certificate when I graduate. I won’t be able to work
in the public sector or register a company in my
name.’ Meanwhile, his younger brother dropped out of
school when his teacher refused the presence of
“animals, criminals and traitors” in the classroom.’
At only ten years old, the boy now works shining
shoes and selling tissues or chewing gum in the
public park. He explains, ‘if anyone asks where I’m
from, I say Turkey. I can’t even speak Turkish, but
if I speak broken Arabic they usually believe me. We
take it in turns to approach somebody in the park.
The others stay close by for protection, but if the
police come they will all run away. If they catch
us, we must hand over everything we have. Sometimes
they joke and say this is “import tax” or “a present
from the Turkish government”’.
To survive he and other youngsters must work long
hours and risk the dangers and exploitation in the
park at night. Sometimes they try to sell things to
customers at the café terraces. ‘Some waiters are
nice. They understand [most are themselves
poorly-paid Kurds]. But if customers complain they
chase us and hit us.’
While the stateless Kurds have repeatedly been
promised a solution, there has until recently been
no remedy of, or opportunity to appeal, the results
of the ’62 census. Events of the Arab Spring have
brought forth further promises to rectify the
situation. Following a presidential decree in March
of this year,www.ekurd.netsome
Kurds have had their Syrian citizenship restored.
Some estimate, however, that this group represents
as few as 6,000 and their names may not, as yet,
have been entered into the national database of
citizens, allowing them to obtain a passport. For
the remainder of Syria’s 300 000 stateless Kurds,
the future looks as uncertain as ever.
‘I’m pleased to have my ID card,’ says one newly
nationalized Kurd. ‘But not until the process is
completed will I truly trust the intentions of this
action. Before my card is activated, I must have an
interview, no doubt full of interrogation and
intimidation, with State Security. Citizenship
should not be a privilege. It is my right.’
Similar frustrations are evident for our first
contact. ‘They feed our dreams. Every time we hear
they are working on solving our problem, reviewing
it and discussing it. And every time I hope the
dream will come true. But now my anger is such that
if I were to decide to join the protests I would
kill twenty of the government’s thugs. For this
country has lied to me, called me dog. They have
said I must not have a passport, I must not travel,
I must not open a business, I must not marry. But I
won’t join the protests as I want to have a future,
I want development and I want peace for my family.’
Unable to travel outside, for the moment he must
continue his life as a non-citizen within.
While Kurds distanced themselves from much of the
initial popular movement of the Syrian street,
patience has turned to desperation. The university
student consulted above stated, ‘If there are
Kurdish riots in Aleppo, I want to be among the
first to take part. Since joining university three
years ago, I have been detained four times. Being
stateless, I am politically dangerous in the eyes of
the authorities. Therefore I have nothing to lose.
Maybe something bad will happen to me, I will be
arrested and imprisoned. But after that maybe
something good could happen; I will gain citizenship
to any European country, as the torture I will
receive will make me and my asylum case so much
stronger.’
2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the UN’s
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. As the
internal opposition and international community
condemn Assad’s repressive crackdown on popular
dissent, so too should they condemn the long-term
injustice of depriving civil rights to a
considerable section of society.
Facts and Figures
There are two categories of stateless Kurds in
Syria. The groups are differentiated
bureaucratically and in the enjoyment of recognized
human rights.
1. Those who attempted to register in 1962 but did
not have sufficient documentation became ajanib
(‘foreigners’ in Arabic). These individuals are
issued a special identity document confirming their
lack of Syrian citizenship. They face formal
restrictions in employment, further education and
marriage registration.
2. Maktoumeen (meaning ‘unrecorded’) refers to those
who did not participate – through choice or other
circumstances – in the census.
They may be without identity papers altogether and
are subject to greater restrictions. They are not
awarded a school graduation certificate and are
often unable to travel outside their own province.
Estimated breakdown
Little exists in the way of reliable statistics on
stateless Kurds within Syria, or even Kurds in
general as the Syrian government does not
disaggregate according to ethnicity. However,
scholars repeatedly quote Kurds to represent close
to 10% of Syria’s 22 million populace. A popularly
cited figure records the number who became stateless
in 1962 as 120,000. Meanwhile the UN estimates that
there are currently approximately 300,000 stateless
Kurds within the country. One calculation has the
breakdown at 140,000 ajanib to 160,000 maktoumeen.
* Taghee Moas is a pseudonym of an independent
journalist working in Syria. Taghee speaks Arabic
and Kurmanji and has conducted field-work into the
human rights situation of Kurds in North-Eastern
Syria. His research has contributed to the work of
several NGOs conducting research on the subject.
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