Aheen feels like a stranger in her own country, because of being a stateless, especially since her legal status has not resolved to this day. She has not been able to complete her education and is still banned from travelling abroad. She is deprived of her most basic rights.
Aheen was born in Qamishli/Qamishlo in 1989. She is married with children, and working in the field of media. Most of Aheen’s family members are stateless, specifically from the maktumeen[1] category, including her father, husband and children. In this respect, Aheen spoke to STJ field researcher in an interview conducted in March 2018:
"My mother was a citizen while my father was a maktum. He tried several times to resolve his legal status, but in vain. When I was a child, my grandmother told me about the special census. She said that when the census was conducted, no one helped her to submit her and her children’s papers to be registered, since her husband was dead. She tried later to submit the papers to the Civil Status Department, but they were rejected. I've been in a lot of troubles all my life because of my legal status. It was very difficult for us, stateless, to be enrolled in schools. We are required to bring witnesses, the mukhtar[2], and also a lot of money. We are banned from traveling by plane. Since we are stateless, we are often exploited. My brother Ismail, who is graduated from the Health Institute, is always exploited and underpaid by the employers. He also was arrested and mocked several times by the Syrian security services, because of the identification certificate he holds, and that led him to immigrate to Europe to escape such reality.”
Following the issuance of Decree No. 49, on naturalization of ajanib in 2011, Aheen submitted her and her family’s papers to the Civil Status Department in Qamishli, to acquire Syrian nationality, but all her attempts have failed:
"With the onset of the Syrian war, we tried to find a way to resolve our legal status but we’ve so far failed. On the other hand, I wonder by what right the Autonomous Administration conscript maktumeen young