Day 2 of the Conference Brings Major Results

Guterres to countries: "Nice work, y'all!"

Its still too soon to judge, but it would appear that the UNHCR conference in Geneva this week was a huge success in garnering increased protection of stateless persons and refugees. Its pretty shocking, actually, how many states were willing to pledge to change their citizenship laws, accede to the Statelessness or Refugee Conventions, or to make asylum procedures or court proceedings more fair. I'm guessing UNHCR staff are asking themselves right now, "Why didn't we do this years ago?"

Let's take a look at some of the big announcements coming out yesterday:

•  The following nations will accede to BOTH statelessness conventions (1954 and 1961) : the Gambia, Haiti, Moldova, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Ukraine, and Yemen. Remember, 1961 confers citizenship on children born stateless in the signatory nation, so this is truly very significant.
•  Serbia joined the 1961 Convention (HUGE) as did Zimbabwe, Columbia, Paraguay, Mozambique, Burundi, Guinea, and Belgium.
• Liberia and Senegal both pledged to amend their laws to allow citizenship to pass through the mother, as well as the father. (A huge strike against statelessness and legal invisibility in those nations.)
• The US made a whole range of pledges, totaling 28, including providing refugee minors with cultural education, working to eliminate the 1-year filing deadline on asylum applications, promote pro-bono legal assistance for undocumented migrant youth, and provide additional services to LBQT asylum seekers and survivors of gender-based violence.
• Australia, Brazil, and 6 other countries pledged to improve methods of identifying stateless population. (Wow, way to go all out there, Australia. Would have liked to see some pledges on the asylum-seeker debacle, but maybe next time)

All in all, over 60 countries made pledges, and as High Commish Guterres noted, the conference marked a "quantum leap" on the issue of statelessness. Despite the very hard work being done on the issue all over the world by smaller agencies and non-profits, today's results are of the sort that can only be accomplished with massive coordination and international pressure. A conference like this shows us that its not time to give up on international cooperation just yet.

Congratulations, UNHCR! The future is looking a lot brighter for stateless persons and refugees.

Retroactive Denationalization of Haitians in Dominican Republic

Haitian men sell hats in a Dominican Market -Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonucceli

Between dictators, natural disasters and crushing poverty, life in Haiti has been incredibly rough for years. (Maybe even the last 400 years or so, but you can ask France about that.)  So its no surprise that the country sees a number of migrants leave its borders seeking a better life. Perhaps no country is more aware of this than neighboring Dominican Republic, home to a large Haitian migrant community as well as to a significant population of people of Haitian descent. Now, in an effort to cut down on illegal immigration, the Dominican Republic has taken drastic measures that have rendered many from this population effectively stateless.

The border between the two countries is very porous, and for decades there has been significant labor migration from Haiti to Dominican Republic (often legally and by invitation). There was seasonal migration between to the two countries, particularly for seasonal sugar-cane workers, but many other families in the last century have settled permanently in the DR. These families benefitted from a generous nationality acquisition policy: descendents were entitled to citizenship based on jus soli, i.e., being born on the territory made them Dominican citizens. However, in January 2010 there was a change to the Dominican constitution that effectively put a grandfather clause on citizenship.

Article 18: Nationality. They are citizens:
...(3) Persons born on natural territory, with the exception of sons and daughters of foreign members of diplomatic or consular services, foreigners that are in transit or reside illegally in Dominican territory. They are considered in transit all foreigners as defined in the laws of the Republic. (Translation mine.)

Now, in order to take advantage of D.R.'s jus soli territorial citizenship, one must not only be born in the country, but also born to legally residing Dominican parents. The effect was to instantly render up to 1 million people stateless, including many whom are 3rd and 4th generation Dominican residents.

Understandably given the magnitude of the population, this policy has been difficult to implement in practice. After all, many of Haitian descent already have identity documents, were registered at birth, and until this time considered themselves Dominican citizens. The government now seems to be using piecemeal tactics to denationalize- denial of document renewal, refusal to issue copies of birth certificates, erasure from civil registries, and other insidious means to take rights away from people of Haitian descent. 

But although the tactics are sporadic, Haitian-Dominicans are feeling the effects. Without access to documents they have limited freedom of movement, can't attend to college, drive, or marry. In short, they are deprived of the right to a legal personality.

There has been a recent upswing in attention to this issue. In fact, today there is a brief hearing on the subject at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with appearances by the government and representatives of NGO's. In a few days there will be a conference at Georgetown University on the same subject. Also there will apparently  be a conference at the end of the year in concert with UNHCR aimed at reducing statelessness. However, where I'm standing, this case is very similar to Kuric (the civil registry erasure case) and is ripe for litigation under any number of international legal documents which the Dominican Republic is clearly and wantonly violating.

Here is the 2010 Constitution of the Dominican Republic (in spanish): Consitution de la Republica Dominicana

Here's a very enlightening PBS video on the subject: In Dominican Republic, Haitians Grapple with Stateless Limbo
***Update: Here is the press release from the State Dept. after the event at Georgetown University: Statelessness and the Dominican Republic

News Roundup: Haiti

Some of the latest post-earthquake information, and some resources for those interested in finding out more.

*US sends mixed messages on Refugees
The United States is home to largest number of Haitians outside of Haiti, many of whom are legal permanent residents. Naturally, persons fleeing the disaster are likely to seek refuge in the US for reasons of family connections, strong networks for jobs and resources, as well as the historical and cultural ties between the two nations which stretch back centuries.

While the United States has accepted and plans to accept a number of Haitian refugees in cities such as Chicago, and Christie, NJ, it appears that the emphasis of the Obama administration is still on preventing illegal immigration rather than providing relief for survivors.

Two examples: the US Coast guard has taken an active role in preventing sea-born refugees from entering the US.
US Repatriates 88 Haitian Reugees off the coast of Florida

Worse, there has been talk of housing repatriated refugees in the dreaded Guatanamo Bay prison camp in the event of a mass influx. Read about that horrible, horrible idea here.

However, USCIS has granted an 18 month Temporary Protected Status to Haitian Refugees, which would allow them to temporarily legally reside in the United States, so long as appropriate paperwork is filed. But as past TPS recipients from Nicaragua and El Salvador can attest, a temporary solution can lead to years of uncertainty for its recipients (and their children), as well as difficulties with labor, education, and social rights.

*Debt Relief; Reparations in Store?
With promises by G7 Finance Ministers to help Haiti rebuild with grants and debt relief, international attention is finally focusing on the Haiti's historical odious debt to France and the United States. Naomi Klein sums up the arguments on Haiti's behalf passionately and succinctly in this recent article from The Nation.
Haiti: A Creditor, Not a Debtor

Read about the promises from the G7 Ministers here. And for more information about Haitian debt and current campaigns, check out the Jubilee campaign.


MORE WEB RESOURCES
-The Haiti Democracy Project
-The Haitian Studies Association
-The Daily Haitian Times


*All images from Don Lee, CBS News, do not use without permission*