163. The President of the Dominican Republic, in the statement of reasons for Law No. 169-14 of May 23, 2014 (infra para. 180), asserted that “Dominican Republic has a long history of shortcomings with regard to the registration, documentation and identification of both nationals and aliens” and that “many people are born on national territory who are not duly registered and therefore lack a juridical identity, which] reveals an unacceptable institutional weakness.” Similarly, based on different sources of information published between 1991 and 2005, the Court has noted that the birth of most children of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent born in Dominican territory was not registered, at least around the time of birth. 133 In addition, these shortcomings are also mentioned in the consideranda of Law No. 169-14, as well as in judgment TC/0168/13 of the Constitutional Court. Similarly, the connection between these difficulties and what expert witness Ferrán Brú referred to as the “irregular conditions of the Dominican Civil Registry” should be noted. Although he did not indicate that the problem affects those of Haitian descent exclusively, he stated that “the indiscriminate flow of Haitians towards [the Dominican Republic,] together with [these conditions of irregularity] lead to chaos.” He also affirmed the existence of “pernicious effects of the irregularities of [the said] Civil Registry,” concluding that “the purging of the Dominican civil registers has been a necessary process.” 134 164. In February 2005, Samuel Martínez stated that: Dominican law and the interpretation that the highest civil registry authorities have made of its requirements for citizenship support the presumption of the exclusion of Haitians [sic] from citizenship at the level of the local civil registers. […] The official refusal to grant citizenship to children of Haitian immigrants born in the Dominican Republic has created a broad category of de facto stateless persons. 135 165. In view of the foregoing, one of the main difficulties faced by children of Haitian descent when trying to obtain Dominican nationality is obtaining a certificate of their birth in Dominican territory from a Civil Registry Office. Thus, added to the statement of reasons for Law No. 169-14 (supra para. 163), the Court has observed, based on information from 1991 to 2005, that mothers usually give birth to their children at home, in view of the difficulty to travel from the bateyes to the hospitals in the towns, their limited financial resources, and the fear of meeting hospital officials, police agents, or officials from the local municipality and being expelled. 136 However, these are not the only problems. Thus, the Court notes that it has been reported that there have been cases in which the Dominican public authorities have made it difficult to obtain the birth certificates of children of Haitian descent, 137 and that parents who are Haitian immigrants or 133 Case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic, para. 109.10. In this regard, the National Coalition for Haitian Rights has described the fear of being deported usually felt by the parents of children of Haitian descent if they go to register their children, and indicated that frequently the parents do not have identity documents even though they have lived in the Dominican Republic for numerous years. The widely-held opinion is that the identity cards of Haitians are false. Similarly, Samuel Martínez stated that “late civil registration is frequently the only mechanisms that the Dominico-Haitians have to obtain an official certification that they were born in the Dominican Republic. Many Haitians decide to give birth to their children at home instead of going to a health clinic, for lack of money, difficulties in finding adequate transport from the remote rural settlements, or fear that the hospital staff or the police agents will denounce them as illegal residents. In recent years, hospital staff have refused birth certificates even to Haitians born in hospitals” (cf. Testimony of Samuel Martínez in the case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic). 134 Expert opinion provided by Fernando Ignacio Ferrán Brú by affidavit. 135 Cf. Testimony of Samuel Martínez in the case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic. 136 Case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic, para. 109.10 and footnote 47. Expert witness Samuel Martínez testified similarly (Cf. Testimony of Samuel Martínez in the case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic). 137 Case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic, para. 109.11. 53