No one tells Dom. Rep. who’s a Dominican, Immigration chief warns

Santo Domingo.- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has no legal power, under the allegation of human rights violation, said Immigration director Jose R. Taveras on Thursday.

The official called yesterday’s demand by the Commission that Dominican Republic issue IDs and birth certificates to Haitians of descendants an intrusion that violates the most elementary rules of international law.

The request by the branch of the Organization of American States (OAS) stems from the case of 48 people who asked the court for an injunction to avoid being expelled from Dominican Republic.

"These intrusions violate the most elementary rules of international law establishing national policies and migration policies domain reserved to the States," Taveras said in response to the organization’s request.

"By taking such action, the IACHR violates Article 1 of the Convention on the Status of Foreigners, the Hague Convention, which clearly states that ‘It is the discretion of each State to determine under its own law who are its citizens’. "