(image credit: AFP)

This decision follows a September 2013 court ruling in the Dominican Republic which retroactively stripped Dominican-born children of Haitian immigrants of their Dominican citizenship. Human rights groups estimated the ruling affected approximately 200,000 people, though the Dominican government estimates were much lower.

According to BBC News:

President Danilo Medina had urged lawmakers to pass the bill swiftly to create “a country without exclusion and without discrimination”.

The new law will create different categories for people depending on when they were born and whether they have documents proving they were born in the Dominican Republic.

Critics say this still discriminates against those who do not possess such documents, but the government says they will be given the opportunity to apply for naturalisation after 10 years of residing in the Dominican Republic.

The law will come into force as soon as it is officially published