Minister of Foreign Relations Andres Navarro has met with civil society leaders, Central Electoral Board (JCE) officials, representatives of the European Union, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United States and international organizations in the country to review the JCE’s work on the implementation of Law 169-14 on naturalization with the backing of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. Representatives of international organizations claim that there have been obstacles to the law’s implementation.
Navarro stressed that the implementation of the law is one of the commitments to contribute to the strengthening of protection of human rights in the country as part of the new foreign policy spearheaded by President Danilo Medina.
Navarro said the Ministry is at the service of the JCE to become a space for dialogue with civil society organizations working on migratory and human rights issues. A civil registry has been opened at the Ministry of Foreign Relations to enable documentation for citizens who have experienced difficulties at the JCE civil registry offices. Nevertheless, Navarro said that to date the office had not received a single case. As reported, 55,000 birth certificates have been approved whose beneficiaries have not followed through with the paperwork.
The meeting was attended by European Union representative Alberto Navarro, UNDP representative Lorenzo Jimenez Luis, and Patrick M. Dunn, counselor minister representing the United States Embassy, as well as more than 20 representatives of civil society organizations and 12 observers from international organizations, including the OIM and the UNHCR.
The Dominican government was also represented by deputy minister Alejandra Liriano, who is in charge of foreign policy and Radhys Abreu, who is in charge of human rights at the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
The JCE was represented by Lourdes Salazar for the general secretary, Pedro Reyes Calderon who is in charge of disputes, and Brigida Sabino who is in charge of late birth declarations. They said that almost all of the 55,000 people who have benefited from Law 169-14 have not followed up or picked up their documentation. The law authorized Dominican citizenship to thousands of people who over several decades had received them through procedures deemed irregular.
Civil society organizations that sent representatives were:
Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitianas (MUDHA), Movimiento Sociocultural de los Trabajadores Haitianos (MOSCTHA), Centro de Desarrollo Sostenible (CEDESO), Centro Bono, Mesa Nacional para las Migraciones y Refugiados (MENAMIRD), Movimiento Reconocidos, Centro Cultural Dominico-Haitiano (CCDH), Batey Relief Alliance, Juventud Empoderada para la Transformacion, Heartland Alliance, Save the Children, Observatorio de Migrantes del Caribe (OBMICA), Oxfam International, Centro de Formacion y Accion Social y Agraria (CEFASA), Plan International, evangelical Christian churches, Fundacion Etnica Integral (FEI), Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas and Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDH).
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/2016/01/10/i203317_canciller-encabeza-encuentro-para-abordar-aplicacion-ley-169.html
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/cancilleria-coordina-segunda-reunion-de-la-jce-con-la-sociedad-civil-y-organismos-internacionales-GJ2391190
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/2016/01/10/i203317_canciller-encabeza-encuentro-para-abordar-aplicacion-ley-169.html
