Dominican Republic Ambassador Blames Haiti for Citizenship Irregularities

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.

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

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