Who Is Stateless And Why?: Exploring How The Un And The International Community Are Addressing Statelessness By Comparing Two Case Studies Of Syrian Refugees Living In Lebanon And Jordan.

This thesis will explore how the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is addressing statelessness as an international crisis and their #IBelong campaign to eradicate statelessness by 2024. Next, it will define what statelessness is and how someone is determined to be stateless concerning the recommendations of UNHCR and international humanitarian law. Finally, it will focus on two case studies of how statelessness is affecting Jordan and Lebanon. The phenomenon of statelessness is not new. However, since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, statelessness has become prominent among Syrian refugees living in Jordan and Lebanon. Both countries have strict citizenship laws which rule nationality can only pass on to a child through the father. Refugee children born to families with a Syrian father or fathers who died in the conflict are left without a nationality. Many children who fled Syria lack birth certificates and others who are born in refugee camps lack a claim to nationality. My thesis explores the leading causes of statelessness affecting Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon and how gender discriminatory citizenship laws perpetuate the phenomenon.