Stateless in the Dominican Republic: Maria and Sonia

Two generations of Dominican women grapple with their hopes and dreams.

For Dominicans of Haitian descent, obtaining proof of citizenship—required for everything from education to employment to voting—has become a legal and bureaucratic impossibility. A stateless person is not recognized as a citizen by any state. Citizenship enables you not only to vote, hold public office, and exit and enter a country freely, but also to obtain housing, health care, employment, and education. It is vital in order to live a decent human life. Stateless people are denied that right.

For more information, visit http://www.soros.org/stateless

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• statelessness
• citizenship
• Dominican Republic
• DR
• Open Society Institute
• human rights
• education
• health care
• employment
• housing
• vote
• Haitian

[Certeroooo]

The claim of statelessness is FALSE: Article 21 of the HAITIAN constitution CLEARLY states that the children of Haitian citizens born outside of Haiti ARE Haitian citizens. It is UP to Haitians, NOT Dominicans, that their citizens get the proper documentation AS these individuals are entitled to as Haitians citizens.

In addition, the SAME Haitian constitution DOES NOT GRANT Haitian citizenship to the children of foreigners BORN in their soil, and they are DEMANDING this right somewhere else?

[Certeroooo]

This is a BASELESS video that has nothing to do with statelessness, but rather with agendas looking to force Dominicans to abandon their own laws and self-interest by granting automatic citizenship to Haitian illegals with no checks or procedures whatsoever. The ultimate goal is to dissolve any sense of a border between the two countries, so in the near future Haitians may massively occupy the Dominican Republic with NO RESTRAINTS, giving way to ethnic confrontations of an unimaginable scale.

[conucoheights]

you are from where you're born. period.

[koolkidnc]

:(

[Certeroooo]

If anything is to be done, is simply to guarantee access to education to the children of these illegal immigrants while their status is solved ACCORDING to the law, which clearly states that children born from parents in the country illegally DO NOT acquire Dominican citizenship.

Illegal Haitians in DR already can access to whatever health care is available to Dominicans of similar means, so the thesis of "citizenship first then education" is bent for the sole purpose of an illegal amnesty.

[Certeroooo]

@buttercup5773

Oh PLEASE do, go and bang the doors of Congress so they change the law denying children of illegal Dominicans in the US automatic citizenship...in the end, it is the American peoples' prerogative since it is their country, their laws, and acting in their best national interests. I'm Dominican and I should respect that, just the same as we should not be forced to assimilate millions of illegals with cuestionable allegiance and take in a burden that their own refuse to.

[buttercup5773]

What a darn SHAME...DR government is guilty of oppression denying children born to haitian parents in DR birth certificate.Their are many Dominicans living illegal in the USA, the children born to them are US citenzens with US birthcertificate. I say US should change that policy & deny them citenship, annul their birthcertificates and see how DR ppl like that...BET they would protest, wouldn't like it...give them a TASTE of their own medicine. What you don.t like for self, don't do to another.

[lexdiamonds1990]

okay i understand for the other people, but in this video these people are OBVIOUSLY Haitian

[chsn09]

@MissReynaDReyes Obviamente estes personas en este video SON Haitianos desciendentes jaja