Above: Haiti President Michel Martelly (Photo: OP Haiti)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Haiti President Michel Martelly headed Trinidad and Tobago on Monday to participate in high-level CARICOM talks covering the recent Constitutional Court decision in the Dominican Republic.
The meeting, which will be chaired by Trinidad Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and include St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, is a sign of the growing attention the regional body is placing on the decision, which Martelly said could “put a number of Dominican citizens of Haitian descent in a situation of statelessness.”
A number of regional countries have expressed concerns over the ruling, which applies to those born to parents of Haitian descent after 1929.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic have begun discussions about ways to resolve the situation, although it’s not yet clear how they will do so, given that it was a judicial, not executive decision.
Martelly last visited Port of Spain for the CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government in July. He returns to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday.