NewsWhore
05-05-2011, 04:00 PM
While expressing his appreciation for Dominican support following the 2010 earthquake, and the education that many Haitian students receive in the DR, Haitian President-elect Michel Martelly told CDN and El Caribe journalists when interviewed in Haiti that there was room for improvement in the relationship between the two countries.
In the interview published today in El Caribe journalists in Haiti, Martelly acknowledged the social problems that mass Haitian migration has caused in the DR. But in the same interview, he also expressed his concern about the situation where children born to Haitian parents in the DR were not automatically granted Dominican nationality. "I have to say that there are small problems we have to resolve. For example, we can address the problem of undocumented Haitians. People who were born there (in the DR) do not have identity papers."
In the interview, Martelly recognized the support his country had received from the Dominican Republic: "We recall that within hours of the earthquake the DR had arrived with help. Never, never will that be forgotten," he said.
He also highlighted his awareness of Haitians who travel to the DR to study. "That is another reason for us to thank the Dominican Republic for the training and education that our students receive," he said. He said his plan was to attract these students back to Haiti to help with the country's development.
In the interview, he also commented on trade. "We need the products from the DR and we also have products we could sell," he said. "It is a market of 20 million people and our brothers can share the island to strengthen the economy for both countries."
Martelly is due to take office on 14 May.
Recently, Haitians citizens at the Haitian embassy in the Dominican Republic complained of delays in granting Haitian identity papers to thousands of migrants without legal documentation. The lack of Haitian documentation causes major problems for Haitians and their offspring who seek to enter the formal economy.
The problem is exacerbated because most Haitians who have migrated to the Dominican Republic do not have legal documentation papers from their native Haiti, meaning that the first step for parents is to apply for legal documentation from the Haitian authorities.
For the JCE to grant a birth certificate, the parents need to themselves have a birth document.
The Haitian Constitution establishes that any child born to a Haitian parent anywhere in the world is born a Haitian national. Article 11 on nationality in Haiti's 1987 Constitution reads: "Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at the time of birth".
The same 1987 Haitian Constitution does not recognize dual citizenship. The Haitian diaspora in the US supports a move to change the Constitution to allow this.
On the other hand, the Dominican Constitution does not grant Dominican nationality to children born to foreigners who reside illegally in Dominican territory.
In practice, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have obtained Dominican nationality, in large part through irregular procedures, but this has been in violation of national laws.
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum for Latin America held in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, on 29 April President Fernandez declared: "No country can cope with mass migration," commenting on the country's right to manage the presence of foreigners in Dominican territory. Fernandez told journalists that despite the generosity of the DR, the country could not handle the situation of poverty in Haiti "without the risk of falling into the same situation."
Nevertheless, the reality is that the Fernandez government has maintained the traditional relaxed international migration policy of successive Dominican governments with only very sporadic repatriations. The department of Migration recently highlighted the virtual non-existence of a budget for repatriating illegal immigrants.
www.elcaribe.com.do/site/nacionales/275240-martelly-restablecera-el-ejercito-de-haiti.html (http://www.elcaribe.com.do/site/nacionales/275240-martelly-restablecera-el-ejercito-de-haiti.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
In the interview published today in El Caribe journalists in Haiti, Martelly acknowledged the social problems that mass Haitian migration has caused in the DR. But in the same interview, he also expressed his concern about the situation where children born to Haitian parents in the DR were not automatically granted Dominican nationality. "I have to say that there are small problems we have to resolve. For example, we can address the problem of undocumented Haitians. People who were born there (in the DR) do not have identity papers."
In the interview, Martelly recognized the support his country had received from the Dominican Republic: "We recall that within hours of the earthquake the DR had arrived with help. Never, never will that be forgotten," he said.
He also highlighted his awareness of Haitians who travel to the DR to study. "That is another reason for us to thank the Dominican Republic for the training and education that our students receive," he said. He said his plan was to attract these students back to Haiti to help with the country's development.
In the interview, he also commented on trade. "We need the products from the DR and we also have products we could sell," he said. "It is a market of 20 million people and our brothers can share the island to strengthen the economy for both countries."
Martelly is due to take office on 14 May.
Recently, Haitians citizens at the Haitian embassy in the Dominican Republic complained of delays in granting Haitian identity papers to thousands of migrants without legal documentation. The lack of Haitian documentation causes major problems for Haitians and their offspring who seek to enter the formal economy.
The problem is exacerbated because most Haitians who have migrated to the Dominican Republic do not have legal documentation papers from their native Haiti, meaning that the first step for parents is to apply for legal documentation from the Haitian authorities.
For the JCE to grant a birth certificate, the parents need to themselves have a birth document.
The Haitian Constitution establishes that any child born to a Haitian parent anywhere in the world is born a Haitian national. Article 11 on nationality in Haiti's 1987 Constitution reads: "Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality at the time of birth".
The same 1987 Haitian Constitution does not recognize dual citizenship. The Haitian diaspora in the US supports a move to change the Constitution to allow this.
On the other hand, the Dominican Constitution does not grant Dominican nationality to children born to foreigners who reside illegally in Dominican territory.
In practice, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have obtained Dominican nationality, in large part through irregular procedures, but this has been in violation of national laws.
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum for Latin America held in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, on 29 April President Fernandez declared: "No country can cope with mass migration," commenting on the country's right to manage the presence of foreigners in Dominican territory. Fernandez told journalists that despite the generosity of the DR, the country could not handle the situation of poverty in Haiti "without the risk of falling into the same situation."
Nevertheless, the reality is that the Fernandez government has maintained the traditional relaxed international migration policy of successive Dominican governments with only very sporadic repatriations. The department of Migration recently highlighted the virtual non-existence of a budget for repatriating illegal immigrants.
www.elcaribe.com.do/site/nacionales/275240-martelly-restablecera-el-ejercito-de-haiti.html (http://www.elcaribe.com.do/site/nacionales/275240-martelly-restablecera-el-ejercito-de-haiti.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)