Haiti has recalled its ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Fritz Cineas for consultations, as announced on Monday, 30 September.
The move came in response to a decision by the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic that seeks to revoke Dominican citizenship from several hundreds that had been issued the later, according to Haiti’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Civil Registry in the Dominican Republic has put thousands of these on hold on grounds that they were issued irregularly.
That decision maintains that children born in the country to foreign parents (“aliens in transit”) who came to the country after 1929 are not eligible for Dominican citizenship. It confirms the interpretation that the words “in transit” mean not having legal status.
In its ruling, the court ordered the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to conduct what it called a “thorough audit” of birth records since 21 June 1929 to identify those to whom the ruling would apply.
The move comes just a few months after an announcement in April by the Dominican Republic that it had offered to support a process to provide identity documents and provide temporary work visas for Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. More than half of Haitians living in Haiti do not have legal identity documents. This creates major problems when they migrate to the Dominican Republic where they receive health and primary education benefits awarded to all the poor. To receive welfare benefits, nevertheless, they need to obtain their cedulas.
The Haitian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “very concerned” at the court’s decision, and said it would set out the government position “as soon as possible.”