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UNHCR renews call for urgent action to find an adequate solution to stateless situation in the Dominican Republic

The agency is deeply concerned that more than six months have gone by since the ruling of the Constitutional Court and that, despite the significant efforts of the Dominican Government, a solution has not been reached yet to adequately address the plight of this population

April 7, 2014

From: UNHCR

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reiterated the call for the Dominican Republic to restore the nationality of tens of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent born in the country who were rendered stateless by a ruling of the Constitutional Court of 23 September 2013.

UNHCR is deeply concerned that more than six months have gone by since the ruling of the Constitutional Court and that, despite the significant efforts of the Dominican Government, a solution has not been reached yet to adequately address the plight of this population.

Over the past two weeks, the Dominican President has met with several key political actors in the country to discuss the contents of a draft bill aimed at finding a solution to this problem, and which he has said he intends to submit to Congress shortly. UNHCR welcomes the efforts of the Executive and calls on all sectors of Dominican society to urgently rally around a bill that restores the nationality of affected individuals and upholds the human rights commitments assumed by the Dominican Republic.

“The consequences of statelessness are dramatically real for individuals affected by the ruling. They are denied access to identification cards, employment and other basic services. They cannot travel, get married legally or register the birth of a child," said Shelly Pitterman, UNHCR Regional Representative in Washington. "These individuals are in desperate need of a solution," he added.

With a mandate from the UN General Assembly to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness and protect stateless persons, UNHCR continues to be prepared to assist the Dominican authorities in the process of finding an adequate solution.