Syria’s proposed nationality reform is nearing approval and would let mothers pass citizenship to children in some cases, UN News reported, addressing a legal gap affecting children whose fathers are absent.
Social Affairs and Labour Minister Hind Kabawat told a Geneva panel Wednesday that the proposal was at the approval stage. It would allow mothers to pass Syrian nationality in specified circumstances, including when a father is missing, dead or foreign.
The measure addresses barriers under Syria’s 1969 nationality law, which passes nationality through fathers, said Monia Ammar, a commissioner with the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria. Ammar said children can lack recognized legal status when their fathers are absent.
The commission has not determined how many children are affected, Ammar said. She described mothers and widows facing complex procedures and social stigma as they try to establish their children’s legal identity; some eventually abandon the effort. Those children can face obstacles to education and health care, as well as nationality and dignity, Ammar said.
The commission’s policy paper calls for registration of every child, regardless of birth circumstances. It also recommends accepting alternative documents and granting nationality to children of Syrian mothers. Ammar said the law also runs counter to Syria’s commitments under the convention against discrimination toward women.
Kabawat recounted Maryam’s case: Her husband died during the war, and she was displaced with two young children; neither their locally conducted marriage nor his death had been officially recorded. Kabawat said other families put children on a relative’s paperwork to secure access to school or medical services. She urged authorities to give families a grace period to correct the records and provide support instead of punishment.
Kabawat also argued that children should not be held accountable for their fathers’ decision to fight for ISIL (or Da’esh). She called on countries of origin to help protect those children’s welfare.
