Hasakah/ Raqqa, June 21 (SANA) The Hasakah and Raqqa governorates on Saturday published the first batch of interview schedules for Kurds covered by Presidential Decree No. 13 of 2026, which provides a legal framework for granting Syrian nationality to eligible Kurds.
According to the announcement, interview locations have been distributed across designated civil and administrative centers in Hasakah and Raqqa. The first batch includes the names of hundreds of Syrian Kurds who applied for citizenship.
Officials said the schedules include specified dates and names for applicants in the first batch.
The General Directorate of Civil Affairs said earlier this month that it had completed the collection of Kurds applications submitted under Decree 13.
The Interior Ministry reported in May that 2,892 family applications had been received, covering 10,516 individuals, since the process opened on April 6, 2026, across centers in Damascus, Aleppo, Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has welcomed efforts to implement the decree, which allows eligible Syrian Kurds, including stateless persons not registered in civil records, to obtain Syrian citizenship after decades of legal uncertainty linked to documentation and nationality status.
President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 13 on January 16, 2026, stating that Syrian Kurds are an “authentic and essential component” of Syrian society and that their cultural and linguistic identity forms part of the country’s broader national identity. The decree also designates March 21 as an official holiday.
The measure grants eligible Kurds, including stateless individuals, the right to apply for citizenship after years of legal ambiguity stemming from lack of recognition and civil documentation.
N.J/ABD
