ISI Database on Statelessness and
Human Rights

1. To redouble its efforts and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 1954 and the 1961 Convention to Reduce Statelessness. 

30. To bring its legislation on the determination of the status of refugees and stateless persons in line with international standards. 

18. To effectively implement measures to harmonize norms of citizenship for foreign spouses to bring these norms in line with the CEDAW in the shortest time possible. 

5. The draft law on the provision of citizenship to children where the father is not a Bahraini citizen would be considered a priority. 

14. The Committee is concerned at the fact that Migration Law No. 285-04 narrows the scope of article 11 of the Dominican Constitution establishing that any person born in the State party is entitled to Dominican citizenship, with the exception of, in particular, children of persons “in transit”. The law provides that only children of residents born on Dominican soil are entitled to Dominican nationality, and defines “non-residents” to include, inter alia, undocumented migrants living and working in the State party, and temporary workers, which considerably limits access to citizenship for children of migrants of Haitian origin born in the Dominican Republic, and may lead to situations of statelessness. The Committee is furthermore concerned at the retroactive application of this law. The Committee notes with concern the negative and artificial interpretation of the term “in transit” in the State party’s legislation, which has seriously affected the status of many families of Haitian origin who would otherwise be Dominican residents (art. 5 (d) (iii)).

The Committee strongly recommends that the State party take appropriate measures to guarantee respect for the principle of non-discrimination in children’s access to nationality. The Committee further recommends that the State party consider the possibility of acceding to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which prohibit deprivation of nationality on discriminatory grounds and stipulate that a State party should grant nationality to persons born on its territory who would otherwise be stateless. The State party should reconsider the status of people who have been in its territory for a long period with a view to regularizing their stay.

15. The Committee is concerned about the fact that children of foreign mothers born in the Dominican Republic are provided with “pink” birth declarations by hospitals or clinics, and are registered in the Foreigners’ Book, which hampers their access to nationality, a birth certificate and subsequently a national identity card (“cédula”). Birth certificates and identity cards are key documents required for access to a wide range of services and for the equal enjoyment of rights including in the fields of employment, education, including university studies, and health services (art. 5 (d) and (e) (iv)). The Committee furthermore notes that this practice is in contradiction with article 11 of the Constitution of the State party.

The Committee emphasizes the existing link between the registration of births and the ability of children to enjoy civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, in particular education and health, as enumerated under article 5 of the Convention. The Committee recommends that the State party take appropriate legislative and administrative measures to ensure equal access to birth certificates for all children in the country, including in the case of late request for birth registration, as ordered in the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of 8 September 2005 in the case Yean and Bosico Children v. The Dominican Republic .

16. (...) The Committee urges the State party to take immediate steps, including the removal of administrative obstacles, to issue all Dominicans of Haitian descent with identity documents, including those whose documents have been confiscated or destroyed by the authorities.

125. In accordance with article 11 of the Dominican Constitution, the Government of the Dominican Republic should recognize the right of all persons born on Dominican territory, including the children of a Haitian parent, to Dominican citizenship without discrimination on the grounds of the nationality or status of the parents. Considering that it is the State’s obligation to grant citizenship to those born on its territory, the Government must adopt all necessary positive measures to guarantee that Dominican-born children of Haitian heritage can access the late registration procedure in conditions of equality and non-discrimination and fully exercise and enjoy their right to Dominican nationality. The requirements to prove birth on Dominican territory should be reasonable and not represent an obstacle for acceding to the right of nationality. 

126. The Government should act swiftly to bring its Migration Law No. 285-04 into conformity with article 11 of the Constitution and promulgate regulations that appropriately implement the law in a manner that protects the right to non-discrimination enjoyed by every person within Dominican territory and the imperative to avoid statelessness.

127. The status of all migrants who have been resident in the Dominican Republic should be regularized as soon as administratively possible. Those who have been in the country for an extended period, including Haitian migrants, and who have established family and community ties should be naturalized regardless of inability to prove prior lawful status. The Government should urgently establish a process of nationalization for those who seek Dominican citizenship that is easily accessible, reasonable and affordable for people of limited means.

129. The Government should put in place effective measures to stop discriminatory practices linked to granting citizenship and civil status registration, including birth certificates and cédulas, and to bring administrative procedures in this regard into conformity with due process requirements. In particular, oversight over local civil registry offices should be dramatically increased; Circular 017 of the Central Electoral Board should be withdrawn and replaced with one which encourages an official attitude of facilitation and trust; officials should be given notice that acts of racial discrimination in the exercise of official functions will be severely punished; any denial of request to issue documents should be in writing and contain a full explanation for the denial; all denials of documentation or orders for deportation should be subject to appeal to the courts of general jurisdiction.

130. The experts call upon the Government of the Dominican Republic to fully comply with the judgment and findings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Yean and Bosico vs. the Dominican Republic. In particular the Dominican Republic should implement both legislative and administrative measures to ensure nondiscriminatory issuance of birth certificates and access to schools

132. The situation of multiple discrimination facing minority women, particularly those who are black or of Haitian heritage, presents specific challenges, including in the fields of education, employment and housing, which require targeted attention and dedicated resources within relevant ministries and local and regional authorities. The Government should take immediate steps to eliminate the gender bias in the Migration Law that denies Dominican women the ability to pass their nationality on to their children unless the father is Dominican. All women should have equal rights to work, including those whose status is dependent on their migrant husband.

35. In the light of article 7 of the Convention, the Committee urges the State party to further work on improving the system of birth registration, including by strengthening its efforts to sensitize and mobilize public opinion with regard to the benefits of birth registrations and by training registry personnel. The Committee also recommends that the State party promptly finalize and approve the draft Civil Code and the draft Civil Registry Code.

36. The Committee further recommends that the State party aim to systematically apply the lessons learned from recent experience with mobile birth registration, cooperation with hospitals and other innovative approaches, and that it closely liaise with religious institutions to address inconsistencies in registration practices.

36. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Ensure the right of each and every child to be registered;

(b) Revise all procedures to make sure that newborn children receive a birth certificate and that in particular children from marginalized and vulnerable groups have easy access to the registration procedures;

(c) Ensure that birth attestations are not used as the basis for discrimination of children due to the differences in the type of issuance of the so-called ‘pink certificates’;

(d) Establish an effective and cost-free procedure, which provides a birth certificate for all children up to age 18, who do not yet have a birth certificate.

39. The Committee notes that the constitutional right of acquiring nationality by jus solis is frequently denied to children who do not have the regular birth certificates or are born to parents who have no legal residence in the country. The Committee is concerned that the established procedure of ‘pink certificates’ based on the assumption that mother is “in transit” often disregards long-term residence in the Dominican Republic and prevents the acquisition of any nationality by the child. The Committee is seriously concerned at the large numbers of stateless children generated by this policy.

40. The Committee encourages the State party to adopt a procedure to acquire nationality which is applied to all children born in the Dominican Republic in a nondiscriminatory manner and to make sure that no child becomes stateless.

41. The Committee encourages the State party to ratify the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, signed on 5 December 1961.

25. The Committee is concerned at the information that the provisions of the Convention are not always respected in expulsion/deportation procedures, including due to the fact that:

c)  article 131 of the Migration Law provides that when a deportation/expulsion order cannot be executed because it has been issued against a stateless person or a person lacking identity papers, or for any other justifiable reason, the Police Commissioner refers the concerned person to a penal judge and this person may end up in prison for up to three years, pending execution of the expulsion/deportation order.

26. The Committee recommends that the State party take the necessary measures to establish a legal framework which regulates expulsion/deportation procedures in accordance with articles 22 and 23 of the Convention, in particular:

a) the person concerned shall have the right to submit the reasons he or she should not be expelled and to have his or her case reviewed by a competent authority;

b) if a decision of expulsion that has already been executed is subsequently annulled, the person concerned shall have the right to seek compensation according to the law;

c) in case of expulsion, the person concerned shall be informed without delay of his/her right to have recourse to the protection and assistance of the consular or diplomatic authorities of the State of origin or of a State representing the interests of that State.

36. (...) Furthermore, the State party should intensify its efforts to guarantee that each child of a migrant worker shall have the right to a name and to registration of birth throughout the country, in accordance with article 29 of the Convention.

35. The Committee recommends that each child born in Egypt of a migrant worker be ensured the right to a name, to registration at birth and to a nationality in accordance with article 29 of the Convention and to the delivery of a birth certificate by the Egyptian civil registry.