This report presents the findings of a two-year research analysis into the impact of Syria's development policies on the most disadvantaged groups including women, minorities and internally displaced persons (IDPs), complemented by a fact-finding mission to the Kurdish regions of northeastern Syria in February 2005. It investigates the daily lives of the most vulnerable groups living in the Euphrates Basin and finds many of the development policies implemented by the Syrian government have had discriminatory effects. Thousands of Kurds, for example, were displaced by development of the Attawra dam and the removal of their citizenship rights, the effects of which continue to be felt to this day. The report demonstrates that women, especially in rural areas and those that are Kurds, face discriminatory hardships in the areas of citizenship, poverty and labour.