Citizenship crisis

Even as much of CARICOM debated the implications of the October 4 CCJ ruling in the case of Shanique Myrie vs the State of Barbados, another situation was unfolding in the northern end of the region which will again test the spirit of regional integration and fraternity enshrined in the ethos of CARICOM. Thankfully, the Secretariat has finally taken a formal position on the humanitarian crisis developing on the island of Hispaniola.

Late last month the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic (DR) ruled that the parentage of hundreds of thousands of persons born on Dominican soil from as far back as 1929 now makes them ineligible for automatic citizenship, essentially rendering them stateless. Reports indicate that this decision will affect an estimated 250 000 persons, nearly 210 000 of whom are of Haitian descent.

In announcing the September 23 ruling, DR officials said there would be a “path to citizenship” created for those affected, but the details of this are still unknown. It will be interesting to see whether the DR responds to CARICOM’s appeal to “adopt measures to protect the human rights and interests of those made vulnerable by this ruling and its grievous effects”. It was only in July of this year that the Dominican Republic’s President Medina made an appeal at the CARICOM summit for his country to join the regional bloc of which Haiti is a member. But surely, this is no way to treat a neighbour, never mind a potential family member! In its statement issued, CARICOM noted that it is “deeply concerned” by the ruling. It added that “The implications of tens of thousands of persons being plunged into a constitutional, legal and administrative vacuum by the ruling are a source of deep distress to those affected and one of significant disquiet for our Community”.

And well it should be. Hundreds of thousands potentially face mass deportation, and though they may be of Haitian descent, many of them have as many ties and affiliation to Haiti as they might have to Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica or Grenada. Already a popular destination for Haitian immigrants, the United States too has an interest in these persons’ citizenship being reinstated. Barbadians would have seen the diplomatic nightmare that sprung from the statelessness of Cuban-born Raul Garcia – and that was just one man. The magnitude of the situation in the DR is in the hundreds of thousands.

Another interesting realisation provided by this situation is that there are decidedly different lens through which citizenship is viewed. We in the region attach great sentimentality to the notion of citizenship. Perhaps this is heightened by the fact that as young nations, we are still giddy from the joy of achieving independence. In a letter to the Dominican Republic’s President Medina strongly protesting the court decision, PM Gonsalves waxed philosophical about the meaning of citizenship. “The highest office in the land is that of citizenship. It is an inward grace from which springs the bonds of national community in the landscape and seascape of the country of one’s birth…” he wrote. Yet, in recent times, we have seen several CARICOM territories adopt – or moot the idea of adopting – programmes of citizenship by investment.

The Myrie ruling has spurred much discussion about desirable and undesirable visitors. Now the Dominican Republic’s constitutional ruling gives some food for thought on desirable and undesirable citizens. Here, we have persons being disowned by the country in which they were born and raised and whose culture and language is all they know, while in other countries, the State is actively enticing high net worth individuals to buy their way into what one PM describes as “the highest office in the land”…