Muhammad’s mother, who was diagnosed with cancer, hadn’t been admitted to a specialized hospital in the capital, Damascus, because they are from a stateless Syrian Kurdish family, specifically from the ajanib of al-Hasakah. Doctors at the hospital shouted and kicked them out, a scene which had etched in Muhammad’s mind forever. Muhammad told STJ field researcher the details of this incident through an interview conducted in March 2018.
Muhammad Ameen Ramadan al-Muhammad was born in Hasud village in Qamishli in 1962. He is married with seven children, all of whom are ajanib. Muhammad spoke to STJ about being denied the right to choose his university major because of his statelessness:
“I wanted to study history or media. I had great hopes, but I did not, because I saw how two of my relatives who managed to graduate from university, one from Arabic Literature Department, and the other from Veterinary Medicine, failed in finding employment because of being ajanib. After leaving school I wanted to work as a porter in a grain center, but they did not accept me at first because I was a stateless. After the intervention of a mediator, they gave me the job, but without getting social, health or any other kind of insurance.”