ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Syrian interior ministry on Wednesday announced that it will begin accepting citizenship applications from Kurds on Monday in accordance with Legislative Decree 13, which seeks to offer nationality to members of the minority that have long endured statelessness.

"The Ministry of Interior announces the start date for receiving applications for Syrian citizenship for those covered by the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 13, which grants citizenship to members of the Kurdish community, starting Monday, June 4, as part of the first phase of implementing the decree," the statement read.

The move comes as part of a host of conciliatory measures from Damascus directed at its Kurdish minority after it launched a military offensive against the Kurdish-led Rojava (northeast Syria) administration in January.

The armed blitz, which saw numerous allegations of war crimes perpetrated by Syrian state forces, gave rise to a ceasefire and integration agreement that has seen Rojava institutions incorporated into the Syrian state.

In January, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued Decree 13, which laid out provisions for the recognition of Kurdish lingusitic and cultural rights, stressing that the Kurds comprise an "integral" component of the country's population.

Kurds will be eligible to apply for nationality documents at centers in Damascus, Hasaka, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor, according to the ministry.

Interior Minister Anas Khattab in late January issued a decree asserting that "all exceptional laws and measures resulting from the 1962 census in Hasaka province are hereby repealed, and Syrian citizenship is granted to all citizens of Kurdish origin residing on Syrian territory."

A 1962 census in Hasaka province, ordered by a governor who called local Kurds “invaders,” stripped roughly 120,000 people, mostly Kurds, of their citizenship, creating a large stateless population. 

Those with limited documentation were labeled ajanib (foreigners), while those who failed or refused to participate were classified as maktoumeen (unregistered). 

The stateless population grew over decades, reaching more than 517,000 by 2011, according to the Personal Status Department and the NGO Syrians for Truth and Justice.

Although then-President Bashar al-Assad later called the census “inaccurate,” it was not until 2011, amid the Syrian uprising, that the decree allowed ajanib to apply for citizenship.

The issue of statelessness worldwide has seen extensive efforts by international agencies to see citizenship rights extended to affected individuals, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) noting that stateless persons "may be denied a right to education, to social services, to many areas of employment as they reach adulthood, or even to documents establishing their identity."