Dominican Republic Ambassador Blames Haiti for Citizenship Irregularities

The Dominican Republic's (DR) Constitutional Court ruling descendents of illegal immigrants are not entitled to citizenship status has created an outcry among the international community (IC). Fears of mass deportations--as a result of the ruling--have led observers to declare many thousands of deportees will become stateless. They believe re-patriated Haitians will face obstacles negotiating Haiti's requirements for citizenship.

ADVERTISEMENT


Suggestions the DR is engaging in ethnic cleansing have provoked a rebuttal from the Haitian Ambassador to the U.S., Anibal De Castro. She states the High Court ruling does not set precedence, only a reaffirmation of a ruling in 2005, which was amended in the 2010 Constitution. She adds the DR has every legal right to regulate immigration and develop transparent policies for obtaining citizenship.

De Castro claims the DR is sensitive to the IC's concerns, but argues the lack of identity documents of children born to illegal Haitian immigrants does not make them stateless. In an effort to deflect criticism of DR immigration policies, she puts the onus on Haiti. Haiti is at fault because it has an inadequate system for documenting nationals. Moreover, the DR's stance in denying Haitian immigrants citizenship is due to the same problems other nations have with their immigration policies.

De Castro disagrees with the estimates of people, who do not meet requirements for Dominican citizenship. She says they have been overstated, and descendents can be given temporary residence permits until a policy for obtaining citizenship is implemented, on a case-by-case basis.

Reply to this article

Read more: immigration, Deportation, Dominican Republic, Antihaitianismo, Illegal Immigration, Dominican Court Ruling, International

« Kenscoff In Haiti | Main | Haitian Mother would not let children Trick-or-treat on Halloween »

Return to Articles List

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

E-mail (required, will not be published)

Subject: Dominican Republic Ambassador Blames Haiti for Citizenship Irregularities edit

» »

Our objective is to share with you news and information about Haiti and the people of Haiti. Traditions, habits and the way we were  or  grew are alive in this site. We highly recommend that you Subscribe to our Newsletter and also share with us some of the things that are memorable and made us unique people.