Dozens of children of Dominican-born Haitian immigrants marched on the Supreme Court of Justice yesterday, waving Dominican flags in their demand to be recognized as Dominican nationals. The illegal residence status of their parents currently prevents them from obtaining birth certificates, which are required for studying beyond the sixth grade. The children were accompanied by human rights activists, community leaders and priests, and presented a letter to Supreme Court Chief of Justice, Jorge Subero Isa, calling on him to order the Central Electoral Board to issue children in this predicament their rightful documentation and status.
While the Haitian Constitution grants Haitian citizenship to all offspring of Haitians, regardless of where they are born, the Haitian consulate in the DR will not issue citizenship to minors. The Dominican Constitution says that all those born on Dominican soil are Dominican, with the exception of those ?in transit?. For many years, the practice has been not to recognize as Dominican those born here of parents that are not legal residents. Human rights organizations say, however, that a person who has lived here for many years cannot be considered ?in transit.? The local argument is that if nationality were granted, the flow of illegal Haitians to the DR would become an unbearable cost on social services. Already, Dominican public hospitals are hurting from the high cost of maternity services and hospitals along the border and in Santiago are said to spend half of their budgets on Haitian women who coincidentally arrive at emergency rooms when about to give birth.
One of the biggest problems the Dominican authorities have to deal with is that most Haitians who cross the border do not have any official documentation. In Haiti itself, the authorities acknowledge that over half the population does not have legal ID papers. This causes major problems when registering children at school, as the parents of these children, legally, do not exist.
Yesterday?s demonstration in Santo Domingo was organized by human rights and civil society groups, who claim that the government?s rules limit the abilities of the people to fight poverty.