Document #1261066
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Information currently available to the
IRBDC on the subject is quite limited.
The Embassy of the Dominican Republic in
Washington (there is no diplomatic representation in Canada), as
communicated to the IRBDC by telephone on 10 April 1990, stated
that a legal departure from the Dominican Republic requires a valid
passport and a visa for the country of destination. Illegal exit
should result in arrest and detention for interrogation, and a
fine. According to the source, an expired passport does not
constitute illegal exit and is not subject to the same procedure
and penalty.
Corroborating information on the subject
could not be found among the sources currently available to the
IRBDC.
According to the Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices for 1989 (Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Department of State, February 1990) as well as the previous
edition, in the section on "Freedom to travel..." in their chapter
on Dominican Republic, it is stated that "[t]here are no unusual
legal restrictions on travel within or outside the country for
citizens" (same statement in both issues).
The Human Rights Watch Critique: Review
of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988
(Washington, 1989), however, states that the rights provided by the
Dominican Constitution are not exercised by Dominicans of Haitian
descent (p. 43). These Dominicans reportedly find it difficult or
impossible to obtain legal papers for some purposes (p. 44),
although no direct reference to travel documents could be found in
the publication. The Washington, D.C. staff of Americas Watch who
deal with the Dominican Republic were not available for
consultation on this question, but should be available for
consultation tomorrow (11 April 1990), while the New York office
could not be contacted from the Toronto IRBDC, where research is
being carried out during this week. Should you wish to contact them
yourself, their phones are: Washington, D.C. - (202) 371-6592; New
York - (212) 972-8400.