This statement was published in Spanish by some of our partners, allies and sister agencies. It has been reproduced here with their permission.
Introduction by Mary Duran, Program Officer in Haiti
As armed gangs continue to run amok and consolidate their control on Haiti, Haitians are living in fear and uncertainty and are fleeing their communities, some to the neighbouring Dominican Republic.
Although there are some 245,000 documented Haitians in the Dominikani, seeking casual labour opportunities on the sugar plantations, there are many more undocumented cases, as well as four generations of children born to Haitians in the Dominican Republic whose status has not been regularized and who are vulnerable to abusive deportations. These tensions affect many of our partner organizations, who are based close to the porous border across which people and goods are smuggled.
Today, we join several partner organizations, including the Jesuit Service for Refugees and the Clamor continental network, in denouncing a particularly abusive 2-a.m. raid on the Santa Lucia Haitian community in El Seibo on March 15, 2024, and the subsequent detention of women, children and men. Failing to respect legal procedures, Dominican soldiers and immigration officers aggressively detained community members, stealing money, cell phones and other goods during the raid. Those detained are awaiting deportation to Haiti.
Unfortunately, Haitians are only too familiar with such abusive roundups, which are common practice in the Dominican Republic. We join our partners in calling on the Dominican authorities to respect the rights of Haitians and on the international community to act to protect these most vulnerable and marginalized communities of Haitian migrants.
Our partners’ statement is reproduced below. To read the original version, click here.
“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 5:15)
Saturday, March 16, 2024
“Either we fight together to save Haiti, or we will fight alone to protect the Dominican Republic!” These were the words of our president, Luis Abinader Corona, at the UN General Assembly last September. A cry born out of the need to help the Haitian people who are suffering from a lack of institutional capacity and the scourge of gangs, which also represent a threat to us Dominicans, their closest neighbors. The last major reform of the Constitution of the Dominican Republic was careful to emphasise the guaranteeing nature of the Dominican legal system. Article 39 stipulates that for the Dominican State, all persons are equal before the law and must therefore receive the same protection and treatment, because they enjoy the same rights. It also goes on to specify, in accordance with the most current constitutional spirit, that rights are enjoyed without any discrimination “for reasons of gender, colour, age, disability, nationality, family ties, language, religion, political or philosophical opinion, or social or personal condition.” These rights include the right to due process (Art. 69) and the right to not be arbitrarily or unreasonably deprived of liberty (Art. 71).
As religious and social organizations, we denounce the military and agents of the Directorate General of Migration (DGM) for once again engaging, since 2 a.m. on March 15, in illegal and unjust practices against innocent families in Villa Guerrero, at kilometre marks 2 and 8 in the community of Santa Lucia, in the municipality of Santa Cruz de El Seibo, purportedly to carry out deportations of Haitians. Clearly, these are violations of the fundamental rights of these people, who are being imprisoned to be expelled from the country without due administrative process. Worse still is that they are being subjected to violence and mistreatment, which is creating a climate of fear and vulnerability. Images and testimonies we have received show the inhumane and degrading treatment of these people, who as individuals, have the right to humane and dignified treatment, regardless of their origin or immigration status. The testimonies can be viewed in the video #Migración MALTRATA a menores y mujeres EMBARAZADAS en Villa Guerrero de El Seibo (on YouTube in Spanish), recorded by the Radio Seibo team. It is unacceptable in the 21st century for discriminatory and violent practices to be perpetuated against groups of migrants or people of foreign descent. The lack of a prior administrative process to evaluate each case individually and guarantee respect for the human rights of these people is a flagrant violation of the basic principles of justice and equity.
In this regard, we denounce:
- The abduction for “deportation” of the children and pregnant women who were severely traumatized in the community of Villa Guerrero, at kilometre marks 2 and 8 in the community of Santa Lucia. Since then, fearing a repetition of such events, the inhabitants of these places have not slept in their homes.
- The theft of money, cell phones and other goods by DGM and military agents under the guise of deportations from affected families
- The use of force and physical and verbal aggression against these families
- The raids being carried out illegally according to the Protocol of Understanding on Repatriation Mechanisms of 02/12/1999 (that was signed by the Dominican authorities and that prohibits deportations in the early morning hours)
- The abusive detention of persons with Dominican papers and documentation proving their regular residence in the Dominican Republic who were loaded onto a migration truck
- “Security” agents abusing their position to commit crimes against the physical integrity and well-being of people they are supposed to protect
Early that morning, some children and pregnant women were released after following the migration truck to Higüey. One child who could not be freed and was taken to Haina and released the following day by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the National Council for Children (CONANI) and UNICEF. It should be noted that this child, who is motherless, left his father’s house for fear of living through this terrible violation of his dignity again and does not sleep at night.
It is our understanding that this act, carried out in the early hours of Friday morning, was intended neither “to save Haiti” nor “to protect the Dominican Republic.”
In these turbulent and difficult times, we cannot allow our Dominican institutions to be used to commit abuses. This is exactly what we want to avoid: violence, looting and disorder affecting our families.
We demand that the Dominican authorities immediately put an end to these practices that violate human rights and that they guarantee transparent and fair administrative processes for all persons. We call on President Luis Abinader to order the cessation of these practices, which are often aimed at extortion and theft; and we urge the international community to take concrete measures to protect the rights of these people, the most vulnerable in Dominican society. It should be noted that for some time now, residency has not been renewed for Dominicans of Haitian descent who remain in a legal limbo despite having been beneficiaries of Law 169-14, which had been enacted to remedy the effects of Ruling 168-13, that had retroactively stripped the right to nationality from more than four generations of Dominicans of Haitian descent based on the origin of their parents.
May the Virgin of Altagracia, who was a faithful witness in Higüey of such abuses to her sons and daughters, intercede for these families and for a society where we achieve peace and harmony by discovering ourselves as brothers and sisters, children of the same God.
Signatory organizations
Orden de predicadores, Provincia de Hispania / Red Jesuita con migrantes / Arquidiócesis de Santo Domingo, Pastoral de la Movilidad Humana / Unión Dominicana de Emisoras Católicas / Centro Montalvo / Reconoci.do / Radio Seybo / Parroquia de santo Tomas de Aquino / Conferencia Dominicana de Religiosos/as / Fraternidad Laical Dominica, Santa Catalina de Siena / Manos samaritanas / Ciudad alternativa / Articulación Nacional campesina / Centro misionero católico Hermanas Franciscanas Bernardinas / Fundación Centro Nuestra esperanza / Articulación Nacional Campesina / Fundación Solidaridad Seibana / Dominicos, Centro de Teología / Caminante / Cemiso / Clarkson-Montesinos Institute / Comisión Brasileira de Justicia y Paz / Acción Verapaz en República Dominicana / CLAMOR / Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación y Comunicación Popular, ALER / OPA / Instituto Bartolomé de las Casas, Perú / Programa Latinoamericano de Tierras / Voluntariado de Santa María, Perú / América Latina Alternativa Social, ALAS / Comisión Nacional de Justicia y Paz, Conferencia Episcopal Argentina / Comisión Nacional de Justicia y Paz, Chile / Comisión Episcopal para la Pastoral Social, Perú / Centro de Estudios Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Cuba / Vicariato Pedro de Córdoba / San Juan de Letrán, Padres Dominicos / Dominicans for justice and Peace / Hermanas Franciscanas Bernardinas / Samba Martine / La merced migraciones / ERBOL, educación radiofónica de Bolivia / Voces nuestras, Centro de Comunicación Educativa, Costa Rica / Institutos radiofónicos de fe y alegría Bolivia / Red de comunidades indígenas Jun Na’oj, Guatemala / Federaciôn Guatemalteca de Escuelas Radiofónicas / Foro Argentino de Radios Comunitarias / madrededios.com, Perú / Viedma, Argentina / Radio Sepailua, Perú / CORAPE, Ecuador / Quillabamba TV, / Parroquia San Pio IX / CIESPAL, Ecuador /Caritas de Ribadedeva / Manos Unidas /Balimayâ, España / Solidaridad con Benin / Obras Misionales Pontificias / Arzobispado Oviedo / Asociación Studium Pro Aequalitas / Fondazione Scalabriniana con Migrante Rifugiati / Asociación Scalabriniana al servicio de la movilidad humana, ASCALA / Anacaona / Dominicas de la Enseñanza de la Inmaculada Concepción / Misioneros Dominicos Selvas Amazónicas / Misioneras Dominicas del Rosario / Acción Verapaz / Secretariado de las Dominicas de España y Portugal / Comité Oscar Romero / Familia Dominicana de España / Fraternidad laical de Santo Domingo / Colectivo indignado / Congregación Santo Domingo / Comisión Justicia Paz et Integridad de la Creación / Justicia Paz e Integridad de la Creación, El Salvador / Justicia, Paz e Integridad de la Creación, Colombia / Ayuntamientos, Parroquias y Asociaciones Culturales de Las Villas, Salamanca, España / José Antonio Hoyos González, encargado parroquial de Villoria / Quintín García González, encargado parroquial de Villoruela / Pedro Miguel Díez Ulzurrum, párroco de Moríñigo / Luis Martín Figuero, párroco de Babilafuente / P. Ricardo M. Santos Then, párroco de la Parroquia Santísima Cruz de El Seibo / Coordinadora Popular Nacional / Centro de Salud Fr. Luis Oregui / Development and Peace – Caritas Canada
