Granting citizenship to the children of Syrian women... is widely welcomed, not without reservations and controversy

In a panel discussion on legal identity in Syria at the United Nations headquarters in the Swiss city of Geneva, the Syrian Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Hind Abboud Qabwat, announced the formation of a committee headed by the Ministry of Interior and with the membership of representatives of the Ministries of Endowments, Social Affairs and Labor, and the State Council, to study the proposal to grant Syrian citizenship to the children of Syrian women married to non-Syrians, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

The Minister revealed on Wednesday (November 4, 2026) that the committee was formed in May of this year and that the proposal had reached the “approval stage,” without announcing any date for its issuance or entry into force.

SANA added that the seminar on legal identity in Syria was being held “to discuss ways to protect children and families affected by the war, and to review national and international efforts to address issues of statelessness and loss of official documents.”

Sham Network quoted People's Assembly member Nour Arabo that the draft resolution "has not been referred to the People's Assembly yet and is still in the study and preparation phase." She pointed out "the necessity of completing the legislative procedures by studying the project and discussing it within the relevant committees, in preparation for including it on the agenda, voting on it, issuing it, and publishing it in accordance with constitutional principles."

"Innate rights"

The resolution proposal was welcomed by the majority of Syrian social media users. However, the “but” was present to some, while the decision was met with reservations by others, or even initial rejection by another segment of Syrians.

She highlighted, using a contradiction, the “man” who is married to a European woman and has acquired the nationality of the country on which he lives on social assistance and “gives lessons of patriotism and belonging,” concluding her post with the word “joking.”

Foreign fighters are at the center of the debate

Syrian artist Rasha Rizk raised a question mark about the “timing” and considered that the decision comes to grant citizenship to “the children of Uyghur, Uzbek and Chechen fighters,” considering that its goal is not to give Syrian women full citizenship, as she put it.

Thousands of foreign fighters flocked to Syria after the outbreak of the conflict in 2011 to fight against the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its allies. Most of their countries refuse their return. After the fall of the regime about two years ago, many of them joined the new Syrian army.

On the other hand, a writer and researcher shed light on what many Syrians are narrating about “naturalization operations carried out by Bashar al-Assad of Iranian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Afghan and Pakistani fighters” who supported him over the years. But there are no reliable statistics or numbers in this regard. She wondered: “Doesn’t such a matter have to go through the #People’s_Council first, or is a ministry or minister sufficient to decide on it? Then doesn’t this proposal need a very, very deep study on the humanitarian, social, security, and demographic levels?”

Conditions?

An activist criticized the lack of "objectivity and impartiality" in the public debate on the issue. She wrote: “Those who oppose the government say that the goal is to give citizenship to the children of Turkestan, Chechen, and Uyghur people. Those who are against the decision in its entirety say that they want to give citizenship to the children of Iranians.” She accused those holding these views of not seeing “beyond their noses.”

Syrian Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hend Abboud Qabwat explained in the panel discussion in Geneva the conditions for granting citizenship to the children of Syrian women, according to the proposed new law:

The marriage must be officially registered in the personal status registry

The mother must have Syrian nationality by origin and did not acquire her Syrian citizenship through naturalization

The applicant must not be convicted of crimes

Approval of the application by the relevant authorities after submitting all supporting documents.