Haiti - FLASH : 750 descendants of Haitians obtain Dominican nationality
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed satisfaction with the Dominican Republic's decision to grant nationality to 750 descendants of Haitians, deprived of it after the controversial decision (TC/0168/13) adopted by the Dominican Constitutional Court (TC) on September 23, 2013 which ruled that the children of undocumented foreigners were not Dominicans. This decision applied retroactively to people born after 1929 and directly affected tens of thousands of Haitian children https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9563-haiti-social-a-resolution-with-heavy-consequences.html
The concession of nationality was confirmed by a decree signed on July 16, 2020 by former President Danilo Medina "We congratulate the Government of the Dominican Republic for having taken this important step to find solutions of nationality for people born and raised in the country, and we hope to continue the constructive cooperation with the Government, finding practical solutions for the benefit of all, ”said Matthew Reynolds, UNHCR Representative for the United States and the Caribbean, in a statement.
Let us recall that the international criticisms aroused by the decision TC/0168/13 forced the Dominican authorities to draft in 2014 a law offering nationality to a minority of people concerned, those who already had Dominican identity papers. The 750 Haitian beneficiaries who have obtained Dominican nationality are part of this minority.
