BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PRIME MINISTER of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris has reiterated his call for the Government of the Dominican Republic to desist from deporting Dominicans of Haitian descent to a country where they have “no family of language links”.
Dr. Harris was at the time delivering his address at the opening session of the 36th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which began yesterday (Jul. 2) in Bridgetown, Barbados.
“I therefore call on the Dominican Republic authorities to cease and desist with any plan that would lead to the expulsion of Dominicans of Haitian descent and render them stateless,” Dr. Harris said.
He told the attendees, including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, that there is no other time for which regional unity and solidarity are more important than with the current human rights crisis affecting “our Haitian brethren and the beleaguered Dominicans of Haitian descent, documented or not, born and living in the Dominican Republic”.
The Prime Minister emphasised the Federation’s position on the issue, which was condemned by a number of countries and organisations.
“We in St. Kitts and Nevis share the pain and anguish of the unfortunate Dominicans of Haitian descent and we stand with them in opposition to the present assault to their human rights and dignity caused by the various covert and overt actions taken by the Government of the Dominican Republic, seemingly intent on forcing them to self-deport or directly expel them from the land of their birth to a land which they have neither family nor language links.”
Dr. Harris however suggested that consideration should be given to extend the deadline for the registration of undocumented migrants to allow time for the appropriate solution to be devised in keeping with international principles.
His first condemnation of the decision taken by the Dominican Republic authorities was issued in a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister late last month.
“We express deep concern over the situation facing persons of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic. The issue in the Dominican Republic is two-fold, one is an immigration issue and the other is a basic human rights issue.”
The Dominican Republic Government had given a deadline of June 17, 2015 for people of Haitian descent to apply for legal residency. That Government had said migrants who could prove that they had entered the country before October 2011 could qualify for legal residency, otherwise they would face deportation.
To this end, Prime Minister Harris said: “St. Kitts and Nevis respects a country’s enforcement of its immigration policies. However, given the socio-economic vulnerability of Haiti, we urge that the enforcement be done in collaboration with Haiti.”
He claimed that the denial of citizenship to persons born in the Dominican Republic of Haitian descent would be a breach of international law, noting that international law would require they be considered citizens in the land of their birth and that any effort to deport them would be a violation of best practices.
Prime Minister Harris had then signalled his intention of calling on CARICOM and a number of reputable organisations to speak out on what he termed a “human rights violation”.
“The matter of citizenship is a fundamental human rights issue and we are urging not only the Caribbean Community, but the Organisation of American States, the European Union and the United Nations to speak out against the prospect of this human rights violation.”
