ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the intersection between family law and transnational families. It explores members of transnational families with strong links to Syria will be used to illustrate a few of these complex questions. Syria is interesting not only because international migration plays such an important role in the lives of many citizen - but also because family law differs according to religious affiliation. There are few reliable figures concerning Syrian migration but most labour migrants travel to Lebanon. The Syrian state can be said to practise gender equality in certain domains. Syria is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country. Partly due to the sensitivities of the ruling party where all citizens should be equal and equally Arab, there are no official statistics on religious or ethnic affiliation. Codification of family law has generally taken place in the Middle East Family law is still not codified in most countries on the Arab peninsula, nor in Libya or Sudan.
