Rawda still feels sorry for her three sons, who were not able to pursue education and were deprived of all their civil and political rights. Rawda’s suffering is constant, especially since the legal status of her sons hasn’t been resolved yet.
Rawda Khalil Muhammad was born in Amuda town in al-Hasakah Governorate in 1974. He is married with three sons, all of whom are stateless, specifically from the maktumeen[1] class. She spoke to STJ field researcher through an interview conducted in March 2018:
“It all started when I got married to a maktum man, and gave birth to three children born maktumeen. As a result, I started to consider myself a maktumah, although I’m a citizen, because my sons are all maktumeen, and I can do nothing to help them. I have tried a lot to claim the mother’s right to naturalize her children, but the Syrian law refuses that. My children have become young men and they work in the open labor market. I stand helpless watching their future being ruined. They will live in poverty, and suffer the same fate as me and their father. Even after their numerous attempts to resolve their legal status after the issuance of Decree No.49 on naturalization of ajanib in 2011, nothing has changed and they have not become citizens.”