Lawyer Juan Miguel Castillo Pantaleón alerted the DR should not finance the civil registry for Haiti, as recently proposed the president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Julio Castaños Guzmán. Castillo said that while the intention is good it could be inconvenient for the Dominican Republic, and may set a troubling precedent.
He alerted against the Dominican government taking on responsibility to identify and document citizens of another country. “That is an obligation of the corresponding state,” he stressed. He said the Dominican government must avoid making commitments and taking on responsibilities that may be construed as a Dominican state driven solution to the structural problems that affect the neighboring country.
He said the announcement is even less timely when the Haitian government has just announced it is more than doubling the cost of documentation in Haiti that should lead to an even higher level of undocumented persons.
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El Nacional
14 September 2017
