Dominican Republic: Discrimination at Birth: Haitian Migrants and their Descendants in the Dominican Republic

Index Number: AMR 27/006/2007
Date Published: 18 December 2007
Categories: Dominican Republic

This focus sheet considers the discrimination faced by Haitian migrant workers and some Dominicans of Haitian descent when trying to register the birth of their children. Circular 17, issued in March 2007, has been used to systematically deny Dominicans of Haitian descent access to official identity documents. New measures leave children de facto stateless and form barriers to the full and effective enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.