The ‘unregistered’ in Syria: A life of lost opportunities

Global Voices turns to Syria's 'unregistered' Kurds — hundreds of thousands left stateless after a rushed 1962 census in the Al-Hasakah province stripped tens of thousands of them of their citizenship. Those affected split into three groups: some kept their nationality, others were classed as 'Aliens,' and the 'Maktumeen,' or unregistered, were left with no legal recognition at all. One of them, Helbest Mohammed, graduated from Damascus University's medical school yet holds no citizenship or identification and was denied even her diploma. Her family paid roughly four thousand dollars to a lawyer to try to fix her status, but with the fall of the Assad regime the offices handling the unregistered have shuttered, leaving her case stalled.

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