[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Guyana Government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement noted that it stands in solidarity with its sister CARICOM Member State Haiti in support of its efforts to build international consensus against the recent ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic.
The ruling which the Guyana Government has described as inhumane and indiscriminate, stipulates that children born in the Dominican Republic to undocumented migrants, who have been in the country and registered as citizens as far back as 1929, cannot have Dominican nationality since their parents would be considered as “in transit”.
In this regard, the Government of Guyana is calling on the relevant authorities of the Dominican Republic to respect the right to nationality and international human rights principles.
“This decision could result in the loss of nationality of an estimated 210,000 citizens of the Dominican Republic of Haitian descent. This is a violation of the human and political rights of these citizens and the impact of the implementation of this ruling could be catastrophic. Guyana encourages the Dominican Republic to give serious consideration regarding the application of this ruling in view of the valued contribution made by these persons to the development of the Dominican Republic and more so in safeguarding their human rights,” the Guyana Government said.
These concerns and comments were raised at a meeting on Tuesday October 15 between Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Haiti’s Foreign Minister Pierre-Richard Casimir at Takuba Lodge, Georgetown.
Minister Casimir was accompanied by Amb Guy Alexandre, Consultant and former Ambassador of Haiti to the Dominican Republic, Mr Jean Claude Cenatus and Mrs Marie Helene Sandra Tybule.
