Above: OAS SG Jose Miguel Insulza and Dominican Deputy FM Cesar Dargam (OAS Photo/Juan Manuel Herrera)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Organization of American States will be supporting a joint initiative between the governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic to grant civil identity to Haitian workers in the Dominican Republic.

The move was first announced following a meeting between Haiti President Michel Martelly and Dominican Republic President Danilo Median in the context of the ACS Summit in Port-au-Prince last week.

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza expressed what he called 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,” Insulza said.

Cesar Dargam, the Dominican Republic’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs and Trade Negotiations met Wednesday with Insulza in Washington.

The proposal paves the way for the regularization of the estimated 200,000 Haitian workers living in the Dominican Republic with temporary work visas.