29587: Karshan (News) Dominican Republic on Haitians born there (DR1News) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Michelle Karshan <michelle.karshan@gmail.com>

DR1News, November 28, 2006:

7. No to illegal children
Dr. Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman, president of the Central Electoral Board
(JCE) has made it clear that the JCE will not allow the children of illegal
Haitians born in the country to be declared as Dominican citizens. The new
JCE head, speaking in Diario Libre, said that his organization would fulfill
the requirements of Law 659, which states that a person declaring a child
must present a 'cedula' identification card. Guzman added that a Haitian
citizen is considered Haitian, regardless of where they were born, and
continued by saying that children of Haitian citizens who were born in the
Dominican Republic can easily go to the Haitian embassy or consulates and
register their children there. This issue is highlighted by a report in El
Caribe newspaper that says that of the estimated 1,400,000 Haitians in the
country, only 25,000 have documentation. The report, which looks at both
sides of the Haitian subject, reports that almost 65% of Haitians in the DR
are here illegally. The report also points out that of the 26,224
foreign-born laborers in the country, 65% are Haitian. In 2006 12,067
illegal Haitians were deported, an increase from 2005 and 2004 when 11,610
and 2,473 were deported.