Dominican authorities have deported over 71,000 people back to Haiti since October 2024.
As of October 2024, a new immigration plan was announced by the Dominican President, Luis Abinader, setting forth stricter immigration policies due to the sheer number of Haitian migrants entering the Dominican Republic in recent years. In order to combat this increase of Haitian migrants, Mr. Abinader stated that he would strengthen border surveillance and send out specialist forces. According to the United Nations, over one weekend earlier this month on December 7 and 8, a massacre took place in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, where nearly 200 people were killed. Gang-violence has swept the nation, killing over 12,000 people and displacing around 800,000 from their houses in recent years. Eighty percent of Port-au-Prince is under gang control, and many Haitians have left the country in search of security for their families. There have been no elected leaders in Haiti’s current government since the assassination of the country’s previous president over three years ago.
Haitian migrants at the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, following the Dominican Republic's announcement that it would deport up to 10,000 undocumented migrants per week. In Elias Pina, Dominican Republic, on October 14, 2024. ERIKA SANTELICES / REUTERS
In response to the humanitarian upheaval happening in Haiti, Mr. Abinader recently forewarned the General Assembly of the U.N. that his administration was ready to implement “special measures" on immigration in the Dominican Republic. These new policies highlight the frustrations the Dominican government has regarding the inability of the international community to bring about more stability in Haiti. Large numbers of Haitian migrants lead to increased stress on Dominican health services, along with other governmental resources. The foreign minister of the Dominican Republic, Roberto Álvarez, claims that the Dominican population has had enough stating, “the international community has left us alone to attend to Haitian needs.”
Although Mr. Abinader promises to uphold human rights during the deportation process, human rights groups claim that there have been numerous violations and an absence of due process throughout the deportations. During one raid, a 17-year-old boy claimed that a Dominican policeman shot him in the leg. Another young Haitian, twenty-four-year-old Rose-Mieline Florvil, claimed that immigration officials invaded her home in Santiago yelling something along the lines of “Come here, Black woman.”
President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 20, 2023. (LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Haiti and the Dominican Republic have a complicated history. The Dominican Republic amended its Constitution in 2010 to deny unauthorized immigrant children the right to citizenship by birthright. An immigration specialist, Bridget Wooding, explains, “By racial profiling, they can be picked up and can be expelled from their own country of birth,” in response to the Dominican constitutional court decision that the 2010 amendment can be applied to the past. As a result, great numbers of people born to Haitian parents in the Dominican Republic are not recognized as a citizen of any country now.
Haiti’s foreign minister at the time, Dominique Dupuy, mentions how victims were picked just based on the fact that they were Black, specifically mentioning that some of the deportees weren’t even Haitian to begin with.
The deportation goal nears 10,000 people every week, according to Dominican officials.
Sources
Duncan, N. (2024, November 14). Stop “draconian” mass deportations of Haitians fleeing gangs, activists say. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/haiti-mass-deportation
Grant, W. (2024, October 3). Dominican Republic “to deport up to 10,000 migrants a week.” BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20jepjrx74o
Hauteville, J.-M. (2024, October 22). In the Dominican Republic, mass migrant expulsions turn into a “hunt for Haitians.” Le Monde.fr. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/10/22/in-the-dominican-republic-mass-migrant-expulsions-turn-into-a-hunt-for-haitians_6730110_4.html
Pérez, H. E., & Robles, F. (2024, December 9). Desperate Haitians who fled to the Dominican Republic are being sent back in Cages. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/world/americas/haiti-dominican-republican-cage-trucks.html
Press, A. (2024, October 3). Dominican Republic will deport up to 10,000 Haitians a week, citing an “excess” of immigrants. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/americas/dominican-republic-deport-haitians-intl-hnk/index.html
Robles, F. (2024, December 9). Massacre in Haiti’s capital leaves nearly 200 dead, U.N. says. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/world/americas/haiti-gang-massacre.html
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