Clarify Dominican Republic’s commitment to Haitians, politico warns

Santo Domingo.- Nationalist party (FNP) senior leader Vinicio Castillo on Wednesday called on Presidency chief of staff Gustavo Montalvo to clarify the country’s commitment announced Tuesday on additional legislation to the status of Haitian immigrants’ offspring born in Dominican Republic before 2010.

"According to our information Haiti’s Government wants Dominican nationality granted to all offspring of illegal immigrants born in Dominican Republic before 2010, which would represent a sort of amnesty of nationality through a new law which in fact, voids the Constitutional Court ruling’s effects,” said the prominent attorney.

He said it’s very important for the country for Montalvo to clearly explain the commitments assumed with Haiti in that regard, announced in a joint statement in the Haiti town of Ouanaminthe yesterday.

“That Haiti acknowledges Dominican Republic’s sovereign right to decide on nationality and immigration rules is a positive fact but we have to be very alert against an attempt, via an adjective law, to void the Constitutional Court ruling and open doors for an amnesty of Dominican nationality to hundreds of thousands of illegal Haitians living in the Dominican Republic and they will claim that they were born in our territory,” Castillo said.

The political leader added that the country expects Montalvo’s relevant clarifications on the commitments disclosed after the high level meeting of Haitian and Dominican officials yesterday.