Dominican Republic ruling regarding Haitian-origin descendents a worry for Haitians
From Caribbean360
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Friday October 4, 2013, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque said the 15-member regional integration movement is concerned at a recent ruling by the Constitutional Court in the Dominican Republic that may have an adverse impact on Haitians living in the Spanish-speaking country.
La Rocque told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that while he is seeking further information on the court ruling, anything that affects any member state of CARICOM would be of concerns to the region.
But he said given the fact that the ruling of the Constitutional Court is final “it raises a serious question about the status of the numerous, I gather there are more than 20,000 Dominican Republic nationals of Haitian extract who would be affected”.
The United Nations human rights office in Geneva has already called on the Dominican Republic to take all necessary measures to ensure that citizens of Haitian origin were not deprived of their right to nationality in light of the recent court ruling.
Last week, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that the children of undocumented migrants, who have been in the Dominican Republic and registered as Dominicans as far back as 1929, cannot have Dominican nationality as their parents are considered to be “in transit”.
“We are extremely concerned that a ruling of the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court may deprive tens of thousands of people of nationality, virtually all of them of Haitian descent, and have a very negative impact on their other rights,” said Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHR).
She said the decision could have “disastrous” implications for people of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, leaving them in a state of constitutional limbo and without access to basic services for which identity documents are required.
Until 2010, the UN said the Dominican Republic had followed the principle of automatically bestowing citizenship to anyone born on its soil.
But in 2010, it said a new constitution stated that citizenship would be granted only to those born on Dominican Republic soil to at least one parent of Dominican blood or whose foreign parents are legal residents.
La Rocque told CMC that he is hoping the parties would find a way to address the issue, adding “ I know the UN is also involved in persuading, it is also a human rights issue.
“We also have to look at it, we are have to be concerned, I have not had the opportunity to talk with the authorities in Haiti or the Dominican Republic on the matter, but it is something we will be watching very very keenly to see how we could find a resolution to this issue.
“I just want to recognise that the people of Haiti have contributed to the development of the agricultural sector in the Dominican Republic and I think that has to mean something in the discussions going forward”.
La Rocque, who is also the Secretary General of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORM) grouping to which both countries belong, said while he has not anticipated the organisation getting involved in the matter “any good offices I could use in the circumstances I would be happy to use it.
“I would in fact have to speak to the parties concerned and see if there is any interest in going that way. As I understand it they may be having discussions already on the way forward,” he added.
Amid the court’s ruling, Haiti has recalled its ambassador to the Dominican Republic for consultation, with Foreign Minister Pierre-Richard Casimir describing the ruling as “worrying”.
But in defending the ruling, Dominican Republic officials said it ends uncertainty for children of Haitian immigrants, allowing them to apply for residency and eventually citizenship.
PHOTO: Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque
