ISI Database on Statelessness and
Human Rights

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local civil registry offices should be dramatically increased; Circular 017 of the Central Electoral Board should be withdrawn and replaced with one which encourages an official attitude of facilitation and trust; officials should be given notice that acts of racial discrimination in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.

34. In the light of article 7 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party establish an efficient and accessible birth registration system, which covers its entire territory, and, inter alia:

(a) Promote awareness and appreciation of the importance of birth registration through mass campaigns by providing information on the procedure of birth registration, including the rights and entitlements derived from the registration, through television, radio and printed materials or other means;

(b) Introduce measures such as the mandatory registration of newly born children in hospitals; facilitate the registration process and ensure that birth registration is free of charge;

(c) Introduce mobile birth registration units in order to reach remote areas, especially in the outer islands;

(d) Take appropriate measures to register those who have not been registered at birth;

(e) Enhance cooperation with relevant United Nations programmes, funds and specialized agencies such as UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

39. The Committee welcomes the various initiatives and achievements made in facilitating registration of children at birth, such as the National Plan for Identity “Yo Soy” which set up hospital birth units to ensure every child was registered immediately following birth. However, the Committee is concerned about the negative impact in this regard of Decree No. 2819 of 30 September 1998 providing that parents must be duly documented in order to register their children born within the territory of the State party.

40. The Committee encourages the State party, in partnership with UNICEF, to continue its efforts to ensure that all children within its territory are registered at birth, including children of undocumented foreigners and those belonging to indigenous groups and immigrant families.

46. While welcoming the State party’s efforts to improve the system of birth registration, including by establishing a birth-registration database and by raising awareness among parents, the Committee notes with concern that the current birth-registration system continue to encounter difficulties.

47. In the light of article 7 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party continue to improve the system of birth registration, inter alia, by strengthening its efforts to sensitize and mobilize public opinion on the need for birth registrations as well as by developing the birth-registration database and training registry personnel. Meanwhile, children whose births have not been registered and who are without official documentation should be allowed to access basic services, such as health and education, while waiting to be properly registered.

83. In the light of articles 3 and 22 and other relevant provisions of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party, taking into account the Committee’s General Comment No. 6 (2005) on the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin (CRC/GC/2005/6): 

(a) Take urgent measures not to detain children in connection with immigration proceedings unless it is necessary to protect their best interests - and then for the shortest time possible, and establish a screening process to ensure that groups with special needs, such as refugees and asylum-seekers, including their children, are rapidly identified; 

(b) Accede to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol as well as to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; 

(c) Develop a legislative framework for the protection of asylum-seeking and refugee children, particularly unaccompanied children, in line with international standards; 

(d) In the absence of a national law on refugees, amend the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155), or at least make use of the exception foreseen under Section 55 of the Immigration Act, with a view to legalizing the status of asylum-seekers and refugees in Malaysia; 

(e) If detention is necessary in a particular, exceptional case, take all measures necessary to make this as short as possible and provide for special protection and assistance measures for refugee and asylum-seeking children and their families while in detention, in line with relevant international standards.

59. The Committee regrets that no sufficient effort has been made to effectively improve the situation of refugee children. In particular, the Committee is concerned that many of them live in severe economic hardship and their access to education and health services remains limited. The Committee is further concerned that refugee children face difficulties to receive appropriate treatment and rehabilitation when needed.

60. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendations and urges the State party to: 

(a) Adopt a national law on the protection of and assistance to refugee children in conformity with article 22 of the Convention and other international standards; 

(b) Make every effort to ensure that refugee children are able to benefit fully from the Convention’s principles and provisions; 

(c) Ensure that all refugee children are registered; 

(d) Accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; and 

(e) Strengthen its cooperation with UNHCR.

30. The Committee welcomes the enshrinement in the Children’s Act of every child’s right to a name and nationality and the measures taken to ensure registration. It remains, however, deeply concerned at the high percentage of children not registered at birth, especially in rural areas, and the restrictive measures around birth registration, the discrimination with regard to the registration of children born out of wedlock and of non-Kenyan fathers, as well as the lack of mechanisms and infrastructure to facilitate birth registrations.

31. The Committee recommends that, in the light of article 7 of the Convention, the State party implement an efficient birth-registration system that fully covers its territory and all the children in Kenya, including through:

(a) Ensuring free-of-charge birth registration at all stages of the registration process;

(b) Taking appropriate measures to register those who have not been registered at birth;

(c) Introducing mobile birth-registration units in order to reach the remote areas;

(d) Reviewing existing discriminatory legislation on birth registration, including legislation that prohibits the registration of children born to foreign fathers; 

(e) Formalizing links between various service-delivery structures and promoting awareness and appreciation of the importance of birth registration through mass campaigns that provide information on the procedure of birth registration, including the rights and entitlements derived from the registration, through, inter alia, television, radio and printed materials.

70. In the light of the recommendations adopted during its day of general discussion on the rights of indigenous children (CRC/C/133, paras. 624), the Committee recommends that the State Party:

[...]

(c) Put into place affirmative-action measures and the corresponding resources to ensure free universal primary education and basic health care for children belonging to indigenous peoples and minority communities. These measures should include further efforts to establish clinics and mobile schools, and conduct birth-registration campaigns, as well as specific incentives and training for health workers and teachers. Such measures should be developed in consultation with and with the participation of the communities concerned;