SAHNI ARTICLE 3.3.21 (WORD) (DO NOT DELETE) 120 Gonzaga Journal of International Law 5/6/2021 7:21 PM Vol. 24:2 have lost or abandoned their nationality rights in their States of origin. 76 The administrative reticence of the Dominican Republic to issue birth certificates renders the descendants of migrant workers stateless. It also prevents descendants from accessing basic necessities, such as obtaining state identity papers or applying for school registrations or employment. The Dominican Constitution of 1865 expressly provided for automatic nationality. It granted birth nationality to all persons born in the Dominican Republic even if the parents were nationals of other states. 77 This provision was amended in 1929 to incorporate the “in transit” clause.78 In 2004, the General Law on Migration No. 285-0479 came into force and was applied retrospectively.80 It expanded the “in transit” definition to include all nonresident aliens.81 That manoeuvre brought temporary or undocumented workers into its ambit, which meant that offspring did not qualify for Dominican nationality. 82 The demoted status of these persons contradicts Article 20(1)(2) of the American Convention. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights did not uphold the reasoning of the Dominican judiciary. In Girls Yean and Bosico v. Dominican Republic (2005),83 the Court found that the “in transit” clause resulted in arbitrary deprivation of nationality.84 “With regard to the right embodied in Article 20 of the Convention, the Court understands that nationality is a juridical expression of a social fact that connects an individual to a State. Nationality is a fundamental human right enshrined in the American Convention, and other international instruments, and is non-derogable in accordance with Article 27 of the Convention.”85 … “The importance of nationality is that, as the political and legal bond that connects a person to a specific State, it 76. Id. at 8-9; see also ‘Without Papers, I Am No One’: Stateless People in The Dominican Republic, 27 AMNESTY INT’L 2755, 5, 21 (2015), https://www.amnesty.org/en/docu ments/amr27/2755/2015/en/. 77. Constitución Política de la República Dominicana, Oct. 25, 1865, at art. 5 (Article 5 states, “Dominicans are: 1) All those who are born or will be born in the territory of the Republic, regardless of the nationality of their parents.”). See also Situation of Human Rights in the Dominican Republic, supra note 39, ¶ 146 78. Constitución Política de la República Dominicana, June 20, 1929, at art. 8(2). 79. Ley General de Migración No. 285-04, supra note 73. 80. Int’l Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Dominican Republic, ¶ 14, U.N. Doc. CERD/C/DOM/CO/12 (May 16, 2008). 81. General Law on Migration No. 285-04, supra note 73, at art. 36(10) 82. Dominican Republic, Supreme Court of Justice, serving as Constitutional Court, Judgement of December 14, 2005. 83. Girls Yean & Bosico v. Dominican Republic, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgement, Inter-Am Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 130 (2005) [hereinafter Girls Yean and Bosico]. 84. Id. ¶¶ 148-150, 174. 85. Id. ¶ 136.