Title: Statelessness and Risks of Statelessness in Iraq: Faili Kurd and Bidoon Communities
Publisher: UNHCR
Release date: 2022

In line with the IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024 and the Global Action Plan, UNHCR Iraq is accelerating efforts to ensure everyone has a nationality and access to nationality documents in Iraq. In a renewed attempt to better understand the situation of stateless and at-risk populations in Iraq in order to concretely address the issue, a quantitative study was initiated at the end of 2021 with data collected between November-December. The study targeted the two main population groups known to be stateless or at-risk of statelessness in Iraq, namely the Faili Kurds and Bidoons.

The survey was rolled out by UNHCR’s partner, the Legal Clinic Network (LCN), in 10 Centre/South Governorates. A total of 1,163 heads of households (HoHs) were interviewed at household-level (covering 4,906 individuals), with 570 Faili Kurd HoHs and 593 Bidoon HoHs. The survey was complemented by nine key informant interviews (six Faili Kurds and three Bidoons).

The results suggest that an overwhelming majority of 97% of the surveyed HoHs and their spouses amongst both communities, self-report to have a nationality (2,220 out of 2,290 individuals). The number of individuals reporting to be stateless is relatively limited and far less than previously assumed. Amongst those who self-declared as Iraqi (2,096 HoHs and their spouses), 91% hold the Iraqi Nationality Certificate (INC), leaving 9% without an INC (205 individuals) in the provinces that were included in the study (Baghdad, Diyala, Wassit, Maysan, Thi-Qar, Basra, Diwaniya, Najaf,
Muthanna and Kerbala.

Gender disparity exists both in terms of the number of stateless individuals as well as those holding an INC. A higher percentage of women reported to not have a nationality as compared to men (64% versus 36%, amongst 70 individuals reporting to be stateless). The gender disparity is higher in relation to access to the INC, with 73% of women not holding an INC versus 28% of men (126 women and 48 men amongst 205 Iraqi individual HoHs and/or their spouses with missing INC).

UNHCR, with support of its partner LCN, will advocate and coordinate with relevant authorities on the simplification of procedures and removal of barriers for the identified individuals and households and through the provision of legal and financial aid, and support the identified individuals in securing nationality and necessary documents by mid-2023. UNHCR together with relevant government authorities will provide targeted sensitization campaigns amongst the communities on the importance of securing nationality and legal documents as well as the relevant procedures. The mapping will be expanded in 2022-2023 to other identified population groups at risk of statelessness which were not covered in this study.

In recognition of the efforts and positive measures taken by the Government of Iraq which has contributed to the reduction of statelessness, UNHCR will strengthen its advocacy for Iraq’s accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, in addition to advocacy to eliminate remaining gaps in the Nationality Law, including for example gender inequality in terms of conferral of Iraqi nationality to children born abroad.[1]