Does a child, born abroad, of Syrian parents, have the right to obtain Syrian citizenship. [SYR4413]

If at least one parent of a child is Syrian, then the child is automatically eligible for Syrian citizenship, and once Syrian citizenship is obtained, the individual will always be considered to be a Syrian citizen. [ External Affairs Canada, 21 January 1987.] In 1985, the U.S. Department of State Country Reports noted that the Syrian government did not recognize the renunciation of Syrian citizenship or the acquisition of another nationality, [ U.S. Department of State, Country Reports 1985, p. 1398.] but subsequent reports do not mention this. External Affairs Canada states that the government does not take away Syrian citizenship one must formally renounce one's Syrian citizenship. [ External Affairs Canada, 12 October 1989.] Information available to External Affairs Canada suggests that Syria allows dual citizenship except in the case of Lebanese citizens. [ Ibid.]

Although Syria constitutionally guarantees the right to leave, [ Article 33 of the 1973 Constitution of Syria in Blaustein & Flanz, Constitutions of the World, cited in Hurst Hannum, The Right to Leave and Return in International Law and Practice, (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1987),
p. 140.] in practice, according to one author, direct restrictions are placed on citizens to discourage emigration. [Alan Dowty, The Contemporary Assault on Freedom of Movement: Closed Borders,New Haven: Yale University, 1987, pp. 168, 184.] Conversely, according to Hurst Hannum (The Right to Leave and Return in International Law and Practice), the Syrian government actively encourages the return of its citizens. [ Hannum, pp. 106-7.]
Due to the short notice, it was not possible to confirm the citizenship laws with the Syrian Embassy located in Washington, D.C. because it is a holiday in the United States today.