AMERICA/UNITED STATES - Appeal of the UNHCR to the Dominican government: the consequences of expulsion could be devastating

Tuesday, 23 June 2015

New York (Agenzia Fides) - The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has appealed to the government of the Dominican Republic not to deport tens of thousands of people whose citizenship was thrown into question by a 2013 ruling of the country's Constitutional Court. Most of these are people of Haitian descent who were born in the Dominican Republic: with a stateless population in the Dominican Republic estimated at more than 200,000 people, the consequences of expulsion could be devastating according to UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards.
The Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), William Lacy, also urged the Dominican authorities to extend the deadline of 17 June 2015 in which thousands of Haitians had to legalize their status in the country.
Many Haitians born in the Dominican Republic are still at risk of expulsion according to the National Plan for the regularization of undocumented foreigners (PNRE), which the Dominican authorities started in 2013 and which affects thousands of Haitian immigrants living in this country (see Fides 16/03/2015, 28/01/2015, 16/10/2014, 16/06/2014, 07/02/2014, 25/10/2013). (CE) (Agenzia Fides 23/06/2015)


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