Children of Mixed Couples: Exploring a New Profile of Exclusion from the Civil Registry

10 June 2015--Children of mixed couples (for example, with a Dominican father and foreign mother) are treated as if they were foreigners, without access to the civil registry, despite having the constitutional right to Dominican nationality through their father (jus sanguinis). This problem, which was a finding of OBMICA's pioneering study, Gender and the Risk of Statelessness for the Population of Haitian Descent in the Bateyes of the DR, was the focus of a pilot project carried out by OBMICA together with the Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitianas (MUDHA) between September 2014 and February 2015.

By mixed couple is meant the conjugal or parental union between a Dominican and a foreigner. Based on the various problems in accessing birth registration and proof of nationality for their children, four types of mixed couples were differentiated in the project:

1. Foreign mother / Dominican father
2. Dominican mother perceived as foreign (regularly of Haitian descent) / Foreign father
3. Foreign mother / Dominican father perceived as foreign (regularly of Haitian descent)
4. Dominican mother / Foreign father (can access the civil registry but may have difficulties with paternal recognition)

Regardless of the origin or migration status of the foreign parent, Dominican parents have the right to transmit nationality to their children, as established in Article 18 of the Constitution of the Dominican Republic. However, the discrepancy in procedures between the Central Electoral Board and the Ministry of Public Health makes it difficult for Dominican men to fully exercise the right to transmit nationality to their children when the mother is perceived as foreign, and it increases the likelihood that children will not be registered in civil registry offices.

According to the research that originated the pilot project, even when their partners are Dominican, the document delivered by the clinic or hospital to certify the birth of children of foreign women, or of women born in the country but without an identity card, a form distinguished by its pink color, only leads to the official registration of the birth in the foreigners' book. This is so that the mother can then try to obtain a birth certificate from a foreign country.

"In addition, spelling errors and Spanish translations of the mothers' first and last names are common on live birth certificates, inconsistencies that prevent, hinder, or delay the process of requesting the child's birth certificate at Civil Registry offices or consulates, without the Ministry of Public Health having a quick and effective mechanism to correct the recorded information," emphasizes Allison Petrozziello, OBMICA's research and programs coordinator, as part of the pilot project's findings.

Despite what is established in the Constitution and the administrative resolutions (e.g. 02-2007) of the Central Electoral Board, in practice mixed couples do not have timely information about birth registration, so the risk increases that erroneous registrations will be made in the foreigners' book or that boys and girls will not have access to the nationality they inherit from their Dominican father.

The "pilot project to help eliminate gender discrimination in birth registration and prevent statelessness of Dominican-Haitian children in the Dominican Republic" (also known as the "Mixed Couples" project) was conceived as part of OBMICA's research-for-action cycle, in which the goal is to act and advocate on the basis of applied research findings in the field. During it, the problem was analyzed in depth, promoting mutual learning between OBMICA and MUDHA.

The project has sought to encourage advocacy actions that uphold the right of Dominican men to transmit nationality to their children, regardless of the origin or migration status of the mother, as stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic. It included case identification and legal accompaniment, communications, and advocacy components in order to identify solutions to this discriminatory practice in the civil registry.

The project's results, including findings, recommendations, video, press dossier, and testimonies from affected persons, are available on this page.

The "Mixed Couples" project was supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. The pilot actions will soon be continued through new funding sources.