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OAS to Support Process of Registration of Haitian Citizens in the Dominican Republic

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs and Trade Negotiations of the Dominican Republic, Cesar Roberto Dargam, today agreed that the hemispheric institution will support the joint initiative of the Dominican and Haitian government to initiate the process for granting civil identity to migrant workers from Haiti.

The leader of the hemispheric organization expressed the”full disposition of the OAS to collaborate in the process, originally designed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of President Danilo Medina. The purpose is to resolve the situation, which affects both member countries, created by the presence of thousands of undocumented Haitians in the Dominican Republic.”

In the meeting with Secretary General Insulza, Minister Dargam highlighted the OAS extensive and proven experience in advancing registration programs in the hemisphere especially, the technical assistance provided to the Haitian government and its National Registration Office (ONI) in the modernization and integration of the civil registration system, which has benefited more than four million citizens.

The initiative came after the announcement of President Danilo Medina, to offer the facilities and infrastructure necessary for the Haitian government to provide identity documents to their nationals, which in time will open the way for the regularization of over 200,000 Haitians workers living in the Dominican Republic through a temporary work visa. That offer came on Friday April 26, during a bilateral meeting held between the President of the Dominican Republic and the President of Haiti, Michel Martelly, in the framework of the V Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Association of Caribbean States.

During his visit, Minister Dargam was accompanied by the Director of National Congressional Liaison Louis Bogaert, and the Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the OAS, Ambassador Roberto B. Saladin, who emphasized the importance of the registration initiative proposed by President Medina, that contributes to the protection the rights of Haitian workers and their socio-economic stability.

The meeting, which took place at the OAS headquarters in Washington DC, sought to identify the next steps and the role of the organization in the implementation of the initiative. Additional information about the Universal Civil Identity Program in the Americas (PUICA) is available here.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-170/13