Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat

Press release 222/2013

(17 October 2013)

Statement on the ruling of the Dominican Republic Constitutinal

Court on Nationality

CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)

The Caribbean Community
is deeply concerned by the ruling of 23 September 2013, of the Constitutional Court of the
Dominican Republic on nationality which modifies retroactively legislation which bestowed
citizenship on persons born in the Dominican Republic during the period 1929-2010. As a result of
the ruling, which considers migrants entering the Dominican Republic since 1929 and their children
born in the country as in transit and requires them to obtain nationality, a large number of
persons who are part of the very fabric of Dominican society would be stripped of Dominican
citizenship. It is estimated that some 210,000 Dominican-born people of Haitian descent who were
legally considered Dominican and contributed, as citizens of the Dominican Republic, to the growth
and development of their society, economy and politics, would be affected, rendering them stateless
in violation of international human rights obligations.
The Caribbean Community notes with regret that the decision goes against pronouncements of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (ICHR) which has repeatedly called on the Dominican
Republic to adopt measures to guarantee the right to nationality in the country and to adapt its
immigration laws and practices in accordance with the provisions of the American Convention on
Human Rights.
The Caribbean Community is particularly concerned about the humanitarian implications of the
judgment. The implications of tens of thousands of persons being plunged into a constitutional,
legal and administrative vacuum by the ruling are a source of deep distress to those affected and
one of significant disquiet for our Community.
The Caribbean Community calls on the Dominican Republic to adopt measures to protect the human
rights and interests of those made vulnerable by this ruling and its grievous effects.
CONTACT: piu@caricom.org; caricompublicinfo@gmail.com
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