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Dominican Republic: Will All Dominicans Be Able To Vote on May 16?
October 24, 2008 | Melanie Teff | Tagged as: Dominican Republic, Statelessness
Imagine living in a country all your life and believing you are a citizen of that country. Then, when going to renew some documents, you are informed that your birth certificate and identity document were given to you by mistake and all your documents are invalid since they are “under investigation”. That is what is happening now to many people in the Dominican Republic.
Hundreds of thousands of people of Haitian origin live in the Dominican Republic. For decades Haitians have entered neighboring Dominican Republic, seeking an escape from extreme poverty and political violence. They have worked hard in jobs, for very low wages in sectors like sugar-cane cutting and construction. Yet, the way in which Haitians and people of Haitian origin are treated in the Dominican Republic is very disturbing. UN experts on racism and minorities recently reported “a profound and entrenched problem of racism and discrimination in Dominican society.”
A key example is the question of Dominican citizenship for people of Haitian origin. The constitution of the Dominican Republic says that every child born in their territory is Dominican, except for children of diplomats and children of people “in transit”. The Dominican government argues that all people who do not have documents regularizing their stay in the country are “in transit.” They have created a legal absurdity whereby people who have lived most of their lives in the country and even their children and grandchildren, who have never lived in any other country, are classified as being “in transit.” This has not been applied across the board to all foreigners illegally in the country, but has targeted the Dominico-Haitian community. When I lived in the Dominican Republic two of my friends – one Spanish and one Haitian - gave birth to babies. Neither of them had documents permitting their long-term stay in the country. My Spanish friend had no problem registering her baby and getting a birth certificate, while my Haitian friend was refused permission to register her baby.
In March 2007 the Dominican government issued a circular requiring all registry offices to forward any “suspect” documents for investigation, citing concerns that some offices had improperly issued birth certificates to children of foreign parents who did not prove their residence or legal status in the Dominican Republic. Over the past year many people of Haitian origin have gone to their local registry office to renew their identity document or request a copy of their birth certificate, only to be told that their documents have been cancelled as they are “under investigation.” They cannot challenge this cancellation and have no right of appeal. Dominican newspapers have reported that more than 30,000 identity documents have since been cancelled, many belonging to Dominicans of Haitian descent. Some of these cancellations may have been of fraudulently obtained documents, but how can we know when there is no due process to examine individuals’ cases?
On May 16 the Dominican Republic goes to the polls to elect its President. What will happen when people of Haitian origin present their identity cards which double as voting cards, at their voting stations? Will they be told that their documents are not valid? Will their names be on the electoral roll at all? And how many Dominicans of Haitian origin will stay away from the polls, fearing that their documents might be taken away from them if they go to vote? The Dominican Republic relies on its positive image as a democratic country and as a major tourist destination. It should not tarnish that image by disenfranchising a group of its citizens.
--Melanie Teff
Hundreds of thousands of people of Haitian origin live in the Dominican Republic. For decades Haitians have entered neighboring Dominican Republic, seeking an escape from extreme poverty and political violence. They have worked hard in jobs, for very low wages in sectors like sugar-cane cutting and construction. Yet, the way in which Haitians and people of Haitian origin are treated in the Dominican Republic is very disturbing. UN experts on racism and minorities recently reported “a profound and entrenched problem of racism and discrimination in Dominican society.”
A key example is the question of Dominican citizenship for people of Haitian origin. The constitution of the Dominican Republic says that every child born in their territory is Dominican, except for children of diplomats and children of people “in transit”. The Dominican government argues that all people who do not have documents regularizing their stay in the country are “in transit.” They have created a legal absurdity whereby people who have lived most of their lives in the country and even their children and grandchildren, who have never lived in any other country, are classified as being “in transit.” This has not been applied across the board to all foreigners illegally in the country, but has targeted the Dominico-Haitian community. When I lived in the Dominican Republic two of my friends – one Spanish and one Haitian - gave birth to babies. Neither of them had documents permitting their long-term stay in the country. My Spanish friend had no problem registering her baby and getting a birth certificate, while my Haitian friend was refused permission to register her baby.
In March 2007 the Dominican government issued a circular requiring all registry offices to forward any “suspect” documents for investigation, citing concerns that some offices had improperly issued birth certificates to children of foreign parents who did not prove their residence or legal status in the Dominican Republic. Over the past year many people of Haitian origin have gone to their local registry office to renew their identity document or request a copy of their birth certificate, only to be told that their documents have been cancelled as they are “under investigation.” They cannot challenge this cancellation and have no right of appeal. Dominican newspapers have reported that more than 30,000 identity documents have since been cancelled, many belonging to Dominicans of Haitian descent. Some of these cancellations may have been of fraudulently obtained documents, but how can we know when there is no due process to examine individuals’ cases?
On May 16 the Dominican Republic goes to the polls to elect its President. What will happen when people of Haitian origin present their identity cards which double as voting cards, at their voting stations? Will they be told that their documents are not valid? Will their names be on the electoral roll at all? And how many Dominicans of Haitian origin will stay away from the polls, fearing that their documents might be taken away from them if they go to vote? The Dominican Republic relies on its positive image as a democratic country and as a major tourist destination. It should not tarnish that image by disenfranchising a group of its citizens.
--Melanie Teff
Labels: Dominican Republic, statelessness
