Contáctenos Quiénes somos
Derechos humanos | José Luis Soto

With the expiration of a key provision of the Dominican Republic’s Naturalization Law (Law 169-14), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights demands that the government reform its laws and practices to protect Dominicans of foreign descent, including those who have been summarily expelled or are at risk for deportation.

"From the start, the Naturalization Law violated the rights of thousands of Dominicans, forcing them to self-report as foreigners or face deportation," said Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. "With law’s expiration, it’s clear that the government failed to register the vast majority of those it promised to protect under this flawed scheme, and now thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent will be left at the mercies of a discriminatory system with a history of arbitrary expulsions."

In October 2014, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that provisions of Law 169-14 violate the Dominican Republic’s obligations under international human rights law. This law and its corresponding regulations formalized the denial of birthright citizenship to the children of foreigners who were never enrolled in the Civil Registry, in many cases due to the state’s practice of discriminatorily withholding birth certificates from Dominicans of Haitian descent. These Dominicans were required to self-report as foreigners under Law 169-14 and submit to a process of "regularization," or else face deportation. The deadline to apply expired on Sunday February 1, with government officials confirming it will not be extended.

Faced with expulsions, many Dominicans hoped to secure temporary protection under Law 169-14 while fighting for recognition of their citizenship. The registration system was so fraught with errors that only a fraction of those eligible - 6,937 according to the government - were able to apply before the deadline of Law 169-14 expired, leaving more than a hundred thousand Dominicans vulnerable to expulsion.

Obstacles such as trouble accessing registration sites due to large travel expenses or power shortages, lack of valid information regarding opening hours of such sites, conflicting information regarding legal requirements, arbitrary treatment by state authorities, and breaches of compliance with the law have excluded many from registering. Last week 30 Dominican-born minors were on their way to register under Law 169-14 when authorities summarily deported them and those accompanying them to Haiti. Only after negotiations by local civil society and the Catholic Church were the minors and those accompanying allowed to return to the Dominican Republic.

"We are on the brink of a massive humanitarian crisis in the region, and the government of the Dominican Republic must take immediate steps to remedy the situation," said Santiago A. Canton, Executive Director of Robert F. Kennedy Partners for Human Rights. "The Naturalization Law must be immediately reformed to comply with international human rights obligations, and the government must implement safeguards to guarantee that no person is arbitrarily expelled from the country or left stateless."