Protest against Dominican Republic making People of Haitian Descent Stateless

On September 25th, the Constitutional Court (CC) of the Dominican Republic issued ruling 168/13. This denies Dominican nationality to anyone born in the country whose parents were undocumented at the time of their registration of birth and will affect anyone born in the country since 1929. Essentially, the State will strip nationality from four generations of people who during eight decades were registered as Dominicans under the Constitution and existing laws.

This ruling, in violation of at least fifteen articles of the Dominican Constitution, is using racial discrimination to deny nationality. It will affect hundreds of thousands of Dominicans of diverse origins, especially those of Haitian descent whom the State has already been stripping of Dominican identity documents since 2007.

The Haiti Support Group’s comments to the Latin America Bureau on this ruling can be found here.

If you do not agree with this ruling, we ask for your support by taking one of the following actions:

1. Use the hashtag #EsoNoSeHaceRD and #SentenciaTC to foster discussion on Twitter
2. Sign the official online petition at this link
3. Send the message below to the President of the Dominican Republic ([email protected]) with a copy to the Constitutional Court ([email protected], [email protected]). Alternatively, you can send the following message to the Dominican Ambassador Federico Cuello Camilo in London – Dominican Embassy in London: 139 Inverness Terrace  London, Greater London W2 6JF ([email protected])

Mr. Danilo Medina, President of the Dominican Republic,

We ask you to protect Dominicans affected by the ruling of the Constitutional Court, by declaring that the rights that they have acquired and that are enshrined in the Constitution and international agreements signed by the country cannot be violated. Stripping Dominican nationality from thousands born to migrant parents violates fifteen articles of the Constitution, subjects the country to international sanctions, and most importantly, exacerbates the exclusion of thousands of people who remain without nationality, documentation or legal status.

Mr. President, I do not support the ruling of TC

Yours sincerely,

…

You can also follow some of the organizations fighting against the Ruling on Twitter @CentroBono, @reconoci_do, @mudhalegal, @MOSCTHA, @CEDAIL, @CNDHrd, @haitisg

Please do help us raise awareness with the media of this issue.