Working on solutions

UNHCR and partners have been working with the authorities in both countries to ease the requirements for Syrian refugees to register births. Significant progress has been made. In Jordan, the Civil Status Department agreed that Syrian refugees can provide copies of their identification documents if they do not have the originals, though practice differs between governorates. In Lebanon, the Personal Status Directorate agreed in May 2013 to accept the family booklet as proof of parental identity and marriage.

UNHCR is also working with refugees to raise awareness about the significance of birth registration and the process. In Jordan, UNHCR works with Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) Legal Aid in urban areas, conducting field visits with refugee families and awareness sessions through community-based organizations.

In Lebanon, UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugee Council offer refugees family counselling, group information sessions and outreach at registration centers, providing advice and distributing a leaflet on how to register births. Every month, UNHCR provides individual counselling to about 1,000 families with newborns, and together with its partners provides training for service providers and clinics on birth registration procedures.

Some refugees never had documents such as marriage certificates, as they did not register their marriages with the civil authorities in Syria. Others did not bring their original documents from Syria because they were destroyed or lost. A single mother in Mafraq, Jordan, told UNHCR that she was unable to register her child because her family booklet was burned when her home was bombed. Her husband is still in Syria, complicating the prospect of verifying her marriage in Jordan. Without such verification, it will not be possible to register her baby born in Jordan.

Failure to obtain a birth notification document, which is required to register a birth, is a problem in both Jordan and Lebanon. Some refugee women give birth at home without an authorized midwife. Others give birth in an emergency situation, or are refused notification from the hospital if they cannot pay the full cost of delivery.

A particular issue in Lebanon is the need to provide evidence of legal stay in order to register a birth. Some 12 per cent of Syrian refugees do not have valid stay documents because they entered through unofficial border crossings.

In both Jordan and Lebanon, births can only be registered administratively within one year of birth. After that, registration must be done through a judicial procedure.