Ali is a stateless Syrian Kurdi, specifically from the maktumin class and has been living in a constant fear of being arrested by the Syrian security service agents for not holding an ID.
Ali Mustafa Hamo Kour was born in Kobanî/Ayn al-Arab city in 1969. He is married with 11 sons, working in a farm in Ras al-Ayn/Sari Kani in al-Hasakah Governorate. He belongs to a family most of whose members are also maktumeen, as he told STJ field researcher who interviewed him in March 2018:
"When the special census was carried out, my father's name was not registered, although he had served military service for four years and a half, during October War 1973. He submitted his papers several times trying to resolve his legal status, but to no avail. My father has three brothers, two of whom also served military service, they also tried to resolve their legal statuses, and two of them managed to obtain the Syrian nationality and IDs, while the other didn’t. We were not permitted to possess or acquire any property or register it in our name, so we were obliged to register our goods in the name of one of our naturalized relatives.”
Ali still remembers when the Syrian security service agents arrested him for not holding a proof of identity:
“They asked me to show my ID. I replied that I have none, and that it was not my fault since I’ve submitted my papers to obtain one, but I didn’t receive it.”
Ali also recalls the obstacles his sons faced when it came to their education:
“As for my sons’ suffering, although they finished the elementary, primary and secondary levels at school, they didn’t receive their certificates. My eldest son was not able to access higher education due to his legal status.”