Syria starts granting nationality to Kurds

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Syrian Interior Ministry on April 24 called upon the persons who are registered as foreigners in Hasaka, 595 km from Damascus, and the other governorates to submit their documents to the competent authorities to grant them the Syrian Nationality in accordance with the Presidential legislative decree No 49.

Assistant Minister of Interior for Civil Affairs Brigadier-General Hassan Jalali told SANA that the persons listed as foreigners in Hasaka and the other governorates can provide their documents to the sub-committees in order to acquire the national number and identity in addition to the civil affairs' documents.

People living in Syria's eastern Hasaka region are to be granted Syrian nationality by the decree from President Bashar al-Assad. Many inhabitants of the region are Kurds, who make up about 10% of Syria's 22.5m population.

The decree comes after Assad tasked a committee with examining the census of 1962 which was responsible for depriving some 120,000 Kurds in Hasaka - 20% of the total - of their citizenship.

It was not immediately clear how many Kurds the decree will affect, but it is estimated between 150,000 and 300,000 Kurds will benefit.