In joint effort agencies issue IDs to Haitian immigrants

Monte Plata, Dominican Republic.- The Dominican-Haitian Women’s Movement (Mudha), with the support of the European Union, the Haitian embassy and the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR), issued dozens of identity papers to undocumented Haitian immigrants in the villages called bateyes in Juan Sanchez, eastern Monte Plata province.

European Union funding made the initiative possible, the third conducted in different parts of the country with high populations of undocumented migrants.

More than 150 people, including elderly and cane cutters obtained documents, which will give them an opportunity to obtain a Dominican pension.

Documents were also issued to women of working age living in a condition of statelessness and who have children born on Dominican territory of Haitian parents, born after the constitutional amendment of 2010, which made it harder to obtain a Dominican ID.

Speaking during the ceremony, Mudha director Liliana Dolis stressed the work being done by various organizations for the documentation and urged the government to join forces to deal with the national problem.