U.S. Rep. Gregory W. Meeks Sponsors Resolution on Dominican Republic Constitutional Court Decision

December 14, 2013

U.S. Rep. Gregory W. Meeks Sponsors Resolution on Dominican Republic Constitutional Court Decision

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05) a senior member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, sponsored a Resolution (H. Res. 443) on Thursday, December 12, 2013, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the September 23, 2013, decision of the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court that places hundreds of thousands of Dominican born persons (majority of which are of Haitian descent) at risk of statelessness.

The court decision calls into question previously accepted documentation for parents and children, and could retroactively strip individuals born in the Dominican Republic of Haitian descent of their citizenship. The Resolution resolves that it is U.S. policy to promote a right to nationality without arbitrary deprivation by any state, as articulated in Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Resolution also calls upon the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) to pursue a multilateral approach to promptly address the potential crisis in the Dominican Republic that may render hundreds of thousands of Dominican born persons stateless.

Congressman Meeks states, “Over 240,000 Dominican-born people of Haitian descent are at risk of harm from statelessness. This ruling, if fully implemented, could greatly destabilize an already vulnerable region. I am deeply concerned about this potential humanitarian crisis and hope that through the work of regional partners and nations, a resolution is reached that respects international standards for basic human rights.”