Nationality Law (Legislative Decree No. 276 of 1969)

Legislative Decree 276/1969 was promulgated by Syrian President Nour Al-Din Atassi on November 24, 1969. The Syrian Nationality Law issued under Legislative Decree 276 sets out the criteria for the establishment of Syrian nationality.

Eligibility for Syrian nationality is defined in the Syrian Nationality Law and is primarily derived from the father by law (Article 3, Nationality Law). The law adopts the principle of jus sanguinis, which holds that nationality is determined solely by the parent’s (father’s) nationality, and the place of birth is irrelevant.

While Syrian nationality can theoretically be obtained through the Syrian mother in situations when the family relationship to the father is not established (Article 3(b), Nationality Law), this provision is rarely used in practice on account of the social stigma and other legal implications of registering children born out of wedlock. Children of mixed marriages, where the father is non-Syrian and the mother is Syrian, will typically acquire the nationality of the father.

In some circumstances, to avoid statelessness, persons whose paternity is unknown or undeclared also acquire Syrian nationality if they are born in Syria. However, these safeguards against statelessness at birth have not been systematically implemented. Moreover, this provision only applies to children born in Syria and so clearly does not apply to the children of refugees from Syria who are born in host countries.[1]

[1] For more information about these issues, see “Statelessness in Syria,” European Network on Statelessness and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, August 2019, https://statelessjourneys.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/StatelessJourneys-Syria-August-2019-summary.pdf.