tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/id-cards-18013/articlesID cards – The Conversation2020-09-10T14:20:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1457312020-09-10T14:20:30Z2020-09-10T14:20:30ZDigital identity: new UK scheme risks running a repeat of ID card controversy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357485/original/file-20200910-21-fdgajd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/log-profile-enter-global-icon-concept-386811184">Rawpixel/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Is the UK government planning to revive identity cards for the internet age? The decision to scrap its national ID cards and database in 2010 means the UK is one of the few developed countries not to have such an identity scheme. While this was seen as a victory for civil liberties campaigners, <a href="https://www.techuk.org/images/documents/digital_id_FINAL_WEBSITE.pdf">some now argue</a> that the lack of a simple way to prove who you are, especially online, is holding back the digital economy and improvements to public services.</p>
<p>With this in mind, the government recently <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-steps-outlined-for-uks-use-of-digital-identity">announced plans</a> to pave the way for a new digital identity scheme, which <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/digital-id-cards-lead-the-dominic-cummings-data-revolution-v750fn3kt">some media outlets</a> have called digital ID cards. </p>
<p>In reality, there’s no single agreed definition of what a digital ID is or looks like, so saying the new system will be similar to the unpopular card scheme is misleading. However, the UK government is a long way from demonstrating that it could operate an ID system that follows the principles of privacy, transparency and good governance it claims to support and that are needed to protect people’s rights.</p>
<p>The government’s main argument for a digital ID is the supposedly growing need to prove who you are. For example, anyone buying or selling a home in the UK has to prove their identity multiple times with multiple pieces of evidence. This is time consuming, repetitive and expensive, often requiring face-to-face verification or sending sensitive documents in the post.</p>
<p>A digital identity should help to simplify the process, reducing the friction and costs associated with a stressful series of transactions. It could make it easier to register with a GP, or prove your age if you don’t have a driving licence or passport. And, the government argues, a digital ID could play an important role in preventing identity fraud – a serious and <a href="https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/system/files/Fraud-The-Facts-2020-FINAL-ONLINE-11-June.pdf">growing problem</a>.</p>
<h2>E-government</h2>
<p>Other countries appear to have had success with digital identity programmes. Estonia has a mandatory scheme that includes an ID card but can also be used as definitive proof of identity online. It’s used for travelling, national insurance, checking medical records, submitting tax claims, accessing bank accounts, ordering prescriptions and even online voting.</p>
<p>And the scheme appears to have benefited the country, as part of its <a href="https://e-estonia.com/estonia-showcases-the-advantages-of-a-digital-society-siim-sikkut-government-cio-of-estonia-shares-how-citizens-as-well-as-businesses-can-benefit-from-a-digital-government-at-the-gcio-forum-2017/#:%7E:text=There%20are%20many%20benefits%20of,in%20Estonia%20are%20now%20digital.">general mass digitalisation</a>. In fact, Estonia has been called the <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/e-estonia-the-worlds-most-advanced-digital-society">most advanced digital society in the world</a>. It has one of the world’s best rates of tax collection, <a href="https://medium.com/e-residency-blog/heres-why-tax-evaders-are-disappointed-in-estonian-e-residency-2322644f5f59">supported by e-taxation</a>. Participation in elections has increased, alongside the introduction of <a href="https://e-estonia.com/new-record-i-voting-system/">online voting</a>. Around 99% of public services are now online, <a href="https://e-estonia.com/solutions/e-governance/">available 24/7</a>. Its healthcare system is <a href="https://www.baltictimes.com/estonia_has_eu_s_most_cost-effective_healthcare_system/#:%7E:text=It%20has%20emerged%20in%20a,is%20Estonia%2C%20Postimees%20Online%20reports.&text=Estonia%20improved%20its%20total%20score%20by%2053%20points.">highly cost effective</a>, supported by significant investment in digital records.</p>
<p>Plans for a digital identity would most likely be part of the government’s <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-10-takes-control-of-data-back-into-the-heart-of-government-ksq79rh33">wider attempt</a> to improve data collection and used to inform policymaking and implementation. A digital identity scheme, with a unique identifier for each citizen, could help create government to join up a variety of personal information currently held in separate department databases. This could lead to new insights on citizen behaviour and improved government decision-making. </p>
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<img alt="Old man sat on sofa looking confused at smartphone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357486/original/file-20200910-20-880cbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357486/original/file-20200910-20-880cbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357486/original/file-20200910-20-880cbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357486/original/file-20200910-20-880cbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357486/original/file-20200910-20-880cbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357486/original/file-20200910-20-880cbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357486/original/file-20200910-20-880cbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A digital ID won’t necessarily make things easier for everyone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-man-sit-on-sofa-hold-1679792968">Fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>So what could possibly be the problem with such a supposedly advantageous system?
One of the risks is that a poorly implemented digital ID scheme could make it harder for some people to access services, particularly those with limited access to the internet or skills in using it. Some charities have already noted in a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/digital-identity/outcome/digital-identity-call-for-evidence-response">government consultation</a> that a significant amount of their time is dedicated to supporting vulnerable users to navigate government online services.</p>
<p>Another risk is that people may feel that a “joining up” of data across government will damage their privacy. Even if we have (willingly or unwillingly) shared our data with government already, we may be relying on the notion that most officials couldn’t that easily pull up (and potentially abuse) all our information in one place. The loss of such protection could further undermine trust in those who have access to our data, from the government itself to our local GPs. </p>
<p>But if Estonia can make it work, why can’t the UK? One of the reasons for Estonia’s successful digitalisation is that it was in many ways starting from scratch, and able to design its digital ID as part of a new wider system. The UK, on the other hand, has numerous separate existing digital systems that would need to be integrated.</p>
<h2>Creating more problems</h2>
<p>This problem also has implications for the UK government’s plans for more data-focused policymaking. As the <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/no10-data-science-unit-could-create-more-problems-it-solves">Institute for Government</a> put it, “A No10 data science unit could create more problems than it solves.” The thinktank noted that much of the data collected, stored and processed by government departments is of poor quality and subject to significant gaps, difficult to find and share, and locked away in legacy IT systems. </p>
<p>Building a well-rounded picture of government and society, and empowering the rest of Whitehall to use data science, will require an overhaul of data use that goes way beyond the abilities of small team in Downing Street. The UK needs a long-term plan backed up with practical steps, a much greater willingness to invest in skills and systems, and clear high-level leadership. </p>
<p>Put simply, the government needs to learn to walk before it tries to run with a complex and highly sensitive digital identity scheme. It has highlighted six principles that it wants to guide the project (privacy, transparency, inclusivity, interoperability, proportionality and good governance). But these are very broad and there’s no indication yet of how they will be followed.</p>
<p>A UK digital identity will only work if it allows people to stay in control of their data, who it is shared with and what they are allowed (and not allowed) to do with it. Without this, we can expect to see a revival of <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7137966.stm">the campaign</a> that helped kill ID cards the first time around.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maureen Meadows does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A digital ID will only work if people are allowed to keep control of their data.Maureen Meadows, Professor of Strategic Management, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/805672017-07-06T12:42:44Z2017-07-06T12:42:44ZIf you think David Davis has U-turned on ID cards, think again<p>The government’s recent <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-the-position-of-eu-citizens-in-the-uk-and-uk-nationals-in-the-eu/the-united-kingdoms-exit-from-the-european-union-safeguarding-the-position-of-eu-citizens-living-in-the-uk-and-uk-nationals-living-in-the-eu">proposal</a> on EU citizens’ rights after Brexit included an offer to allow those resident in the UK to apply for “settled status”. This new status would be evidenced with a residence document, including the possible collection of biometric data. </p>
<p>The suggestion immediately raised concerns that the government was introducing ID cards <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/davey_is_government_pushing_id_cards_through_the_backdoor">by the backdoor</a>. The previous Labour government’s plans to introduce national ID cards proved deeply unpopular and were ultimately scrapped by the coalition government. </p>
<p>At first glance, the proposal seems deeply ironic. It was, after all, David Davis, the secretary of state for exiting the EU, who campaigned for so many years against ID cards. In 2008, when he was shadow home secretary, he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jun/12/speeches">resigned his seat</a> in opposition to the then Labour government’s record on civil liberties. And in 2014, he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/04/mps-david-davis-and-tom-watson-in-court-challenge-over-surveillance-act">launched a legal challenge</a> against the coalition government’s <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/27/pdfs/ukpga_20140027_en.pdf">Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/12/mp-david-davis-calls-limit-uk-surveillance-powers-european-court-justice">arguing</a> that the government was infringing on civil liberties in seeking to store citizens’ data.</p>
<p>But in fact, his support for residence documents for EU citizens living in the UK shouldn’t be a surprise at all. Davis of course <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/civil-liberties-david-davis-has-become-complete-hypocrite-and-im-not-sure-he">denies</a> that EU citizens will be forced to carry ID cards – merely have “documentation” to prove their status. But despite his former abhorrence of ID cards, his backing of documentation for EU citizens actually fits neatly with his value system and conception of national identity.</p>
<p>When he resigned as an MP, Davis <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7451552.stm">criticised</a> what he called the “insidious, surreptitious and relentless erosion of fundamental British freedoms”. His opposition to ID cards was based on his <a href="http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2006/02/david_davis_lea.html">argument</a> that they erode the “hard-won rights of British people”. He did <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/sep/26/idcards.civilliberties">oppose</a> ID cards for non-UK nationals too, but on the basis that their use would mark “the start of the introduction of compulsory ID cards for all by stealth” rather than a point of principle about the freedoms of foreigners in the UK.</p>
<p>His opposition to the EU has taken a similar form. Recently, <a href="http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2016/02/david-davis-britain-would-be-better-off-out-of-the-eu-and-heres-why.html">he argued</a> that remaining in the EU would sacrifice “real opportunities to improve the lot of our people”. In the same speech, he praised the historical foundations of the European project, but maintained that “this history is not our history”. Davis defends what he sees as “British” values, based on his understanding of British history and traditions. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.zora.uzh.ch/41247/1/wep_bornschier.pdf">Scholars</a> have argued that there is a new cleavage in globalised societies between those who hold liberal, universalist values and those who subscribe to a more traditionalist worldview. The latter seek to defend exclusive communities based on shared cultural traditions. They tend to promote national sovereignty, restrictions on immigration, and traditional moral values. Such worldviews stand in opposition to universalist values that promote, for example, an internationalist outlook, cultural diversity, and human rights. </p>
<p>It’s clear that, for Davis, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1465116505057816">national identity</a> is an exclusive concept. He has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/08/david-davis-stasi-gestapo-surveillance-tory-civil-liberties">rejected</a> the idea that he opposed ID cards because of libertarian values, calling himself a “rule of law enthusiast” who was defending, in his words, “the judicial tradition of Britain”. He also defends traditional moral values, by <a href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10162/david_davis/haltemprice_and_howden/divisions?policy=826">opposing</a> same-sex marriage and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3274245.stm">calling for</a> a reintroduction of the death penalty.</p>
<p>To Davis, being European is fundamentally incompatible with being British. He did not oppose ID cards because he is committed to the universal rights of the individual, but because he viewed them as contrary to “British traditions”. It is likely that in his view, EU nationals have little right to expect enjoyment of the “British freedoms” he has long defended. Rather, such rights are to be reserved exclusively for British citizens.</p>
<h2>Closed club</h2>
<p>The value divide that explains much of Davis’ politics also lies behind Brexit more generally. And pursuing this agenda will only deepen it. We know that identities become <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9783319516103">strengthened</a> and more polarised in periods of crisis. In order to make sense of events such as Brexit, we interpret them according to existing identities and understanding of the world, which entrenches them further. </p>
<p>Since the referendum, the government has constructed a narrow and exclusive conception of the national community. Brexit has been framed as the clear and emphatic <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/02/theresa-may-dare-parliament-defy-will-people-loses-article-50/">“will of the people”</a>. This despite the narrow result and the fact that so many people who stood to lose rights were excluded from the franchise. The government’s proposal on EU citizens’ rights is merely a formalisation of this exclusive, traditionalist conception of the national community.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/personal-values-brexit-vote/">Studies</a> have also shown that support for traditionalist values were a strong predictor of voting Leave. But when my colleagues and I conducted a survey of people attending the pro-EU <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/unite-for-europe-brexit-march-london-edinburgh-tens-of-thousands-against-european-union-eu-latest-a7649686.html">March for Europe</a> in London, we found that one of the most common concerns was that Britain is shifting away from being an inclusive, cosmopolitan, internationalist country, and towards intolerance and xenophobia. Many also expressed concern about a loss of human rights and environmental protections, and feared a breakdown of international cooperation and social solidarity.</p>
<p>On a personal level, EU citizens spoke of being treated as “second-class citizens”, unwelcome in the UK but, having been resident here for so long, also alien in their country of origin. And British citizens who voted for Remain expressed the feeling that they had been “robbed” of their European identities, that Brexit clashes with their fundamental, core belief in diversity and liberalism.</p>
<p>The proposal to create a <em>de facto</em> register of EU citizens means that they will be officially re-categorised as a distinct group with a smaller set of rights. They might be allowed to live in the same geographical space, but a division is to be drawn between British citizens and EU citizens nonetheless. </p>
<p>The government’s proposal to require EU citizens to prove their status with official documents does not clash with Davis’ opposition to ID cards. It actually allows him to defend the very same exclusive conception of “British traditions” that also drove him to oppose ID cards in the first place. His views reflect a broader division in the UK – and one that is not likely to disappear in the immediate future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Galpin is also a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen. Her research has been supported by the University of Copenhagen’s 2016 Excellence Programme for Interdisciplinary Research (project title ‘Europe and New Global Challenges’).</span></em></p>Government plans to introduce official documents for EU citizens to prove their right to live in the UK have some people surprised.Charlotte Galpin, Lecturer in German and European Politics, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/709142017-01-05T18:23:18Z2017-01-05T18:23:18ZShowing ID at polling stations will not end election fraud<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151815/original/image-20170105-18641-v779j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Private polls.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-536466367/stock-photo-people-vote-in-a-voting-booth-at-a-polling-station.html?src=mbf6PD95Y-vZlrvF9-l2uw-1-23">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The UK’s former communities secretary, Eric Pickles, ended 2016 by claiming the mantle of defender of British democracy. To combat electoral fraud in local government he <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/27/voters-will-have-show-passports-combat-voter-fraud-vulnerable/">called for new controls to guarantee the probity of voting</a> in municipal elections. Most notably, this would mean the requirement of voters to produce photographic ID before they are allowed into a polling booth.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06255/SN06255.pdf">proposals</a> were <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/josiah-mortimer/electoral-fraud_b_11539640.html">dismissed by some</a> as using “a sledgehammer to crack a nut”. But that metaphor may actually be too generous. The intended target of the reforms may be missed altogether, while the collateral damage to British elections could be significant. Pickles’s sledgehammer is more like a blunderbuss.</p>
<p>The Tory MP argued that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32428648">recent episodes of electoral fraud</a> in local contests illustrate a wider problem of corruption whereby votes are cast in other people’s names. He proposes that in future, in certain areas, voters should present documentary identification prior to voting at the polling station. </p>
<p>It is true that there have been episodes of electoral fraud in recent years, and, as Mr Pickles states, in strongly diverse communities. One resulted in the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4406575.stm">unseating of three Birmingham councillors in 2005</a> for the mishandling of postal ballots “on an industrial scale”. And a directly-elected mayor in a London borough was <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32428648">accused of falsifying postal vote applications</a> and manipulating voters through community leaders in 2015. But the rarity of these cases demonstrates that Pickles’s proposals are based on an exaggeration of the situation, and likely to be welcomed by divisive extremists. </p>
<p>Nowhere has personation (falsely claiming a voter’s identity) at the polling station been widespread enough to undermine the credibility of a British local election. A House of Commons <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06255/SN06255.pdf">briefing paper</a> found that the majority of the 224 allegations electoral fraud made to police in 2011 had not been substantiated. And most of those that had been concerned a failure to print agents’ details on posters, or claims of false information issued by candidates. There was only one case of personation that had been the subject of any court proceedings.</p>
<p>Pickles’s proposals for dealing with this supposed problem range from the obstructive to the ineffective, and are mostly impracticable without considerable extra public investment. In all cases they are likely to diminish still further the already shrinking community of municipal voters.</p>
<p>Voters would apparently have to identify themselves using documents such as a passport or driving licence – but these documents are not possessed by all adults. Pickles has also suggested a “voter ID card” might be made available at taxpayers’ expense in the small number of areas where he wants to pilot this idea. But this would exclude those people not determined enough to acquire the card, retain it and then remember it on polling day. </p>
<h2>First past the postal vote</h2>
<p>A far greater potential menace to fair procedure in elections <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26520836">is actually postal voting</a>. Postal (or as it was once known, “absent”) voting was originally used only for members of the armed services overseas, or for others whose occupations made it impossible for them to vote in person. In the 1950s this was extended to those prevented by disability from getting to the polling station. Until 2000, though, the postal vote was for those who could not, rather than chose not, to get there. After 1945 it never accounted for more than 2.6% of votes cast. </p>
<p>Then the Blair government made postal voting an on-demand choice for all voters in the hope of improving sluggish voter turnout. Postal voting surged to represent over 15% of votes cast, yet <a href="http://www.ukpolitical.info/Turnout45.htm">turnout overall fell</a> from 71% to 59%. It was after this that the electoral fraud cases came. It would be unfortunately ironic if Pickles’s measures deterred voters from actually going to the polling station while leaving the more vulnerable option of the postal vote open to anybody who asked (or appeared to ask) for it.</p>
<p>There is a last, potentially sinister twist to Pickles’s proposals. The current idea is that only in 18 authorities will this identification requirement be imposed – all with unusually high ethnic minority populations, mainly Muslim. Pickles makes no apology for pointing to the “vulnerability of some South Asian communities, specifically those with roots in parts of Pakistan or Bangladesh, to electoral fraud”. He accuses those running elections of “turning a blind eye” out of “political correctness.” He is also pressing for documentary proof of nationality to prevent immigrants voting in local elections. </p>
<p>Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey pointedly <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32428648">told the High Court</a> in unseating the mayor of Tower Hamlets: “This is not the consequence of the racial and religious mix of the population.” But the association drawn by Pickles between these communities and electoral fraud, might be regarded by the far right as an acknowledgement of racist sentiments, and by segregationist Islamists as proof of the official persecution they claim their community suffers. </p>
<p>For the great majority of British citizens, regrettably, it will just be seen as another reason not to vote in elections in these areas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Cole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Passports for polling booths should not be a vote winner.Matthew Cole, Teaching Fellow, Department of History, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/431612015-06-19T14:05:21Z2015-06-19T14:05:21ZDominican Republic has taken citizenship from up to 200,000 and is getting away with it<p>On June 17, the deadline ran out for undocumented Haitian migrants to register for official migrant status in the neighbouring Dominican Republic. The international media has been filled <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/06/16/the-bloody-origins-of-the-dominican-republics-ethnic-cleansing-of-haitians/">with reports</a> from the Caribbean of an impending crisis in the DR, predicting that up to 500,000 Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent are now <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/16/dominican-republic-haiti-deportation-residency-permits">threatened with forcible removal</a>. </p>
<p>The country’s vice minister of the interior <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/18/dominican-republic-deportations_n_7608886.html">has confirmed</a> that those who have failed to register in time will be made to leave the country. The media <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article24820618.html">has been speculating</a> that mass deportations to Haiti will follow, though the government <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/18/dominican-republic-deportations_n_7608886.html">has been insisting</a> it will act modestly. </p>
<p>What is in danger of being forgotten is that there are two distinct groups of people involved here. Although there is understandable concern for first-generation Haitians resident in the Dominican Republic, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-group-of-dominicans-were-stripped-of-their-nationality-and-now-face-expulsion-to-haiti-39658">up to 200,000 people</a> born and raised in the country who have always self-identified as Dominicans are now being told that they are Haitians and are at risk of forcible removal from the only place they call home (note that the government <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/18/dominican-republic-deportations_n_7608886.html">claims</a> the numbers are far lower).</p>
<p>To the outside world, first-generation Haitian migrants and Dominican citizens of Haitian descent might seem more or less the same. Most are black and live in abject poverty. Both groups have been made to overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles to obtain documentation requested by the DR authorities to remain in the country. Some in the media <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/16/americas/haitian-immigrants-dominican-republic/">talk about</a> the two groups interchangeably. But in relation to the Dominicans of Haitian descent, the government’s position is particularly serious: it would appear to have initially succeeded at <a href="http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/seven-easy-steps-ethnic-cleansing-dominican-republic">washing its hands</a> of them by making them illegal immigrants in their country of birth.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76908/original/image-20150402-9351-fhiz73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76908/original/image-20150402-9351-fhiz73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76908/original/image-20150402-9351-fhiz73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76908/original/image-20150402-9351-fhiz73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76908/original/image-20150402-9351-fhiz73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76908/original/image-20150402-9351-fhiz73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76908/original/image-20150402-9351-fhiz73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76908/original/image-20150402-9351-fhiz73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Maps</span></span>
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<h2>The background</h2>
<p>For decades, undocumented black Dominicans born in the country – many of whom are of Haitian descent –- were met with distrust by the authorities. Some were rounded up and forcibly removed to Haiti for not possessing paperwork. In recent years, and many miles from the border, Dominicans of Haitian descent would have to produce their ID cards to prove their nationality to effectively avoid expulsion to a foreign country.</p>
<p>The Dominican authorities now say that for more than 80 years they made a mistake when registering these people. In 2013 the constitutional court ruled that they were supposed to have inherited the “illegal” migrant status of their parents, and should never have become Dominicans in the first place. Former president Leonel Fernández <a href="http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/2013/10/03/i149181_leonel-fernandez-hay-gente-que-tenido-impresion-ser-dominicana.html#.VYP2uvmby1u">stated at the time</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If [the ruling] is retroactive then there has been a problem determining the legal status of people living in the country. They have been under the impression that they are Dominican and at some point were even in possession of DR paperwork. Something like that can lead to other types of problems.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Well, quite. The court ordered that those affected be stripped of their birthright Dominican citizenship. As a consequence they were made to re-register as foreign nationals in their country of birth.</p>
<p>Faced with regional pressure from the likes of the <a href="http://www.caricom.org/jsp/pressreleases/press_releases_2013/pres265_13.jsp">Caribbean Community</a>, the DR softened its position last year by introducing new rules for the people affected. People in group A were told to get their Dominican birth certificates “validated” and apply for citizenship ahead of a deadline that expired in February. Those in group B who were born in the Dominican Republic with no birth certificates were told to apply as foreigners for a residency permit. Fewer than 9,000 registered ahead of the deadline.</p>
<p>An opportunity to register for permits also applied to the country’s Haitian migrants, along with the large majority in group A who had missed the February deadline. The reason why many now face expulsion is because they have either not registered or not received their paperwork in time. (I have explained the background in more detail <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-group-of-dominicans-were-stripped-of-their-nationality-and-now-face-expulsion-to-haiti-39658">here</a>). </p>
<h2>Expulsions not deportations</h2>
<p>What therefore began as a citizenship crisis concerning potential arbitrary expulsions of former Dominican nationals retroactively stripped of their birthright nationality has been overshadowed by the plight of another group of people as stories <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/world/americas/dominican-republic-set-to-deport-haitian-migrants.html?_r=1">have emerged</a> of Haitian migrants struggling to register with the DR authorities.</p>
<p>But make no mistake about the precarious situation of the Dominicans of Haitian descent. Most have never been to Haiti and speak Spanish as their mother tongue, not Haitian Creole. For those unable to register in time, the documentation they possess proving their Dominican citizenship is no longer worth the paper it is written on. This is not a case of unwanted migrants from elsewhere, but of unwanted citizens rendered stateless in their own country and made to leave. They are being treated as Haitian migrants being deported, but there is a difference: you can’t deport your own nationals. </p>
<p>In recent weeks, the papers in Europe have been crammed with images of migrants drowning in Mediterranean waters. A particularly tasteless piece in May <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3103162/SUE-REID-went-investigate-Kos-shocked-found.html">reported how</a> the physical presence of those who had reached dry land on the Greek island of Kos apparently made some tourists feel “uncomfortable”. Westerners locked away in their resorts in the Dominican Republic, however, will not have to endure the same hardship as European holidaymakers. Indeed, most will be blissfully unaware that one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the Western hemisphere is happening right now on their doorstep. With the world’s leaders seemingly unwilling to intervene, the sad reality is that few will probably care.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eve works for the Haiti Support Group, a UK-based advocacy organisation. She is also a member of Amnesty International.</span></em></p>International reporting of the Caribbean country’s migrant crisis is in danger of missing the point of what the authorities have actually done.Eve Hayes de Kalaf, Postgraduate Researcher, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.