(Nassau, Bahamas) – There were a number of media outlets who published reports attributed to the Haitian President saying that there are stateless people of Haitian descent in The Bahamas.

As The Bahamas government understands the law of Haiti, the child of Haitian born anywhere is Haitian at birth. This would mean therefore that the children of Haitian parents born in The Bahamas are not stateless and our law requires those persons to obtain a Haitian passport and a residence permit since at birth they are not Bahamian.

We have indicated to the Haitian authorities here, however, that if they are aware of any cases of statelessness of people of Haitian descent, then The Bahamas will fulfill its legal obligations in international law and in the law of The Bahamas to regularize their status. To date, no application has been advanced by or on behalf of anyone of Haitian descent who is stateless.