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GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) - A grouping of 15 Caribbean nations is criticizing a court ruling in the Dominican Republic that strips citizenship from the children of migrant workers.
Last month, the Dominican Republic's Constitutional Court ruled that it will block citizenship for people born to immigrants without residency permits since 1929. Activists say it would affect more than 200,000 people, nearly all of them Dominican-born people of Haitian descent.
Late Thursday, the Guyana-based secretariat of the Caribbean Community said the ruling renders tens of thousands of people "stateless in violation of international human rights obligations." It calls on the Dominican government to protect the rights of "those made vulnerable by this ruling and its grievous effects."
Haiti is a member of the Caribbean Community. The Dominican Republic has declared its intention to join.
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