The Dominican government sent a letter protesting the report issued by the Organization of American States and the latter’s requests regarding Dominican treatment of Haitian illegal migration. The letter says OAS member states have the right to deport illegal aliens and urges that the organization contribute in a convincing manner to help Haiti overcome its economic and social problems. The Ministry of Foreign Relations addressed the letter to Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the organization. Following is a literary translation of the letter: "The content of the report includes positive aspects on the situation of human rights in the DR, especially where it points out the political will and the spirit of modernization with which the Government of President Fernández Reyna has contributed to open new spaces and initiatives for the promotion and protection of human rights. Nevertheless, chapter 11 of the report on the situation of Haitian migrant workers and their families in the DR, has generated profound concern amidst ample national sectors and a total rejection on behalf of the Dominican people that has been expressed in the media. The Dominican government considers an excess of your attributions that the Human Rights Commission suggest and recommend the policy that the Dominican state, or any other member state, should apply regarding foreigners that live illegally in its territory, and more so, regarding undocumented persons that carry no legal identity document of any kind from their country of origin, nor from any other, which is the case of the majority of the Haitians that are in the DR. "The Dominican government sustains irrevocably that it is exclusive attribution of member states, in virtue of the exercise of their sovereignty, to implement judicial measures estimated to be convenient to its interests, regarding the migratory policy in regards to the Constitution and internal laws. Likewise, the government considers it an excess of the Commission of Human Rights to interpret the Constitutions of member countries on affairs that are of internal interest to each state as has occurred with numeral 363 of the report where it expresses in relation to the Haitians: ‘Most confront a situation of permanent illegality that they transmit to their children, who cannot obtain the Dominican nationality, because according to the restrictive interpretation that Dominican authorities make of article 11 of the Constitution these are children of foreigners in transit.’ "The same can be said for numeral 364 of the report, where the Commission calls for the Dominican state to adopt measures to improve or regularize the situation of undocumented Haitian workers by giving these work permits and legal residencies and legalizing the situation of their children, according to the principal of jus solis stated in article 11 of the Constitution. "We would like to clearly establish that the Dominican government understands it is its irrevocable right to repatriate all foreigners that have come in and remain illegally in the country, while respecting their human rights, as in the practice has been occurring. "For these reasons, we again appeal to the international community so that, as we have been doing in the DR, it may contribute with a greater degree of solidarity and in a convincing manner to the overcoming of severe economic and social difficulties that burden that sister nation."
