WORLD BRIDGE BLOG

The Dominican government has been rightly praised for its impressive response to the earthquake in neighboring Haiti. But less attention has been given recently to its own policies regarding people in the Dominican population who have Haitian ancestry. Two weeks after the quake, the Dominican Republic changed its constitution, and took away “birthright citizenship,” where if you are born in the country you are automatically granted citizenship.

Every country has its own citizenship laws. Governments have a sovereign right to confer nationality, but they also have an obligation to protect human rights and to apply the citizenship rules in their constitutions without discrimination. The question of “birthright citizenship” has been a topic of discussion in the US recently, but not even the most extreme advocates of changing the 14th amendment have suggested that this should be applied retroactively – that people who already have US citizenship under previous laws should  be stripped of this right. That would be immoral, as well as illegal under international law. But that is what is happening to people now in the Dominican Republic. The retroactive application of this law in the Dominican Republic means that people who have Dominican citizenship are having it revoked, leaving many people without citizenship, and stateless.

Today I interviewed a young woman – let’s call her Pilar – whose case is a perfect example of the problems facing so many in her community. Pilar was born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents. Her father was a sugar-cane cutter, and he had a temporary worker’s card issued by the State Sugar Company. With this card he was allowed to register his daughter, and she was issued her birth certificate and her Dominican identity card. Pilar went to a Dominican school; she was a good student and wanted to go to university. In order to register for university in the Dominican Republic you need to get a certified copy of your birth certificate from the civil registry office. She had done this several times before, for example when she needed a certified copy to get her passport, and she had always been given these copies before. Now, the civil registry office is refusing her a certified copy of her birth certificate, saying that they have to investigate the migratory status of her parents when she was registered over 20 years ago - despite the fact that this was under the old constitution when “birthright citizenship” rules applied. Because of this, Pilar can’t go to university now. She told me: “I’m from a very poor Haitian immigrant family. They taught me that my future life and my chance of getting dignified work depend on my studies. I love to study, but now I am frustrated because my future has been limited. I am Dominican, and I work hard and pay taxes and vote. What can I do if Dominican society doesn’t recognize me, after I grew up being told I was a citizen? I don’t know anything about my parents’ country, Haiti.”

Seven years ago, I used to live in the Dominican Republic. Now coming back on this mission, I compare the current situation of people’s access to citizenship to how it was in the past. Dominico-Haitian people have always faced some kind of discrimination here. But when I lived here back in 2003, their documents weren’t being revoked. They sometimes had trouble getting their documents, but once they had them no-one was taking them away.

I went for a drink with an old friend - let’s call him Carlos. Carlos was born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents, and like Pilar, has grown up totally Dominican. He had his Dominican birth certificate, went to Dominican schools and university, even got a Dominican government scholarship to study overseas. Involved in politics here, he has good friends and contacts in high places. I asked Carlos what he was going to do now that they are revoking documents of people with Haitian parents. His response said a lot about the current situation here: “It’s not people like me you need to worry about. My influential friends have made sure I’m OK and that my documents will be accepted. It’s the majority of people who don’t have my contacts who can’t resolve their cases. It’s a class thing.”

 For those who don’t have influential friends, there are a few people who have managed to access a pro bono lawyer to undergo the very expensive process of challenging the revocation of their documents in court. But this is a tiny fraction of the affected community.

How can a modern country allow fundamental rights to citizenship to be determined in such a random and unfair way? Following the outpouring of support from Dominicans towards Haitian victims of the quake, President Leonel Fernandez has an excellent international image now. He should not allow this image to be tarnished by this institutional failure concerning Dominican citizenship. With the right political will, it is a problem that could be easily resolved.