Contesting Dominican Discrimination and Statelessness

During a visit to batey, Luisa, an elderly agricultural worker born & bred in the Dominican Republic, remarked "San papye-nou se kochon nan labou." In other words, this long-term resident in a settlement of sugar-cane workers believes that without papers, we are like pigs in mud. The lack of access to birth registration & the lack of acquisition of a nationality are two problems faced by the children of irregular migrants. How & why do the children born to unauthorized migrants in the Dominican Republic miss out on birth registration & how does this put them at the risk of statelessness? The plight of the stateless is marked by discrimination, marginalization, & exclusion, & the human insecurity brought about by statelessness may be translated into conflict & national insecurity. Lack of documentation impedes the enjoyment of many fundamental rights such as school enrollment, personal security, freedom of movement, the access to health services, & social security with related benefits. Adapted from the source document.