Dominican Republic: Covid-19 and Detention

El Día "Gobierno dice más de 60 mil haitianos fueron deportados en últimos tres meses," 9 November 2022, https://eldia.com.do/mas-de-60-mil-haitianos-fueron-deportados-en-ultimos-tres-meses/

In the past three months, Dominican Republic authorities have significantly stepped up migration controls and forced removals of Haitians, including amongst them pregnant women arrested in hospitals, prompting international condemnation. The country, which has historically pursued a policy of mass deportations, removed more than 60,204 people to Haiti between 1 August and the end of October alone–and some 20,000 in a nine day period in November.

Large numbers of Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, with many of them working within the country’s agricultural sector. While the country’s economy relies on this labour, authorities have long touted xenophobic narratives about the “Haitianisation” of the Dominican Republic. More recently, tensions have grown following the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and the deepening crisis in Haiti, with Dominican authorities claiming that intensified border controls and deportations are critical to national security.

In recent months, authorities have stepped up migration controls and deportations, arresting Haitains–as well as those who look like Haitains. According to the US embassy in the country, those arrested are detained in “overcrowded detention centers, without the ability to challenge their detention and without access to food or toilets, sometimes for days, before being released or deported to Haiti.”

In a particularly concerning development, civil society organisations report that authorities have also started conducting migration controls in hospitals, detaining pregnant women in need of medical care in order to deport them. This was quickly condemned by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which highlighted that it violates the principle of non-refoulement; the right of women to health, particularly reproductive health, and disregards “their need for humanitarian protection from the context of institutional crisis, structural violence, and human rights violations that prevails in Haiti.”

Thousands of children have also been deported, and according to various reports and testimonies, deportations are often so chaotic that children are separated from their parents during the process. This year alone, 1,800 unaccompanied children have been deported to Haiti, however it is unclear whether these children had been on their own in the Dominican Republic, whether they had been separated from family when they were arrested, or whether they were separated from parents during the detention and deportation procedure.

The country’s latest treatment of non-nationals has prompted widespread criticism. In late November, a coalition of Dominican NGOs—including Proyecto Trato Digno, OBMICA, and CEDESO—released a statement harshly criticising the deportation campaign: “In recent months, the Dominican government has implemented an aggressive regime to persecute migrants, including hundreds of operations that violate deportation due process. This regime is characterized by a disproportionate use of force, mobilizing security and public order agencies that are not intended to treat administrative matters: the armed forces, national intelligence, and the national police. … We call on authorities to mend their immigration policy to comply with national norms that define due process in matters of detentions and deportations, respect for the rights and dignity of people, as stipulated in the Dominican Constitution.”

Haiti has also condemned the country for subjecting Haitians to “inhumane, cruel and degrading conditions,” while William Charpantier, the coordinator of MENAMIRD, a national roundtable for migrants and refugees in the country, stated that “these aren’t deportations. It’s persecution based on race.” The authorities’ actions were also deplored by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who called “on the Dominican Republic authorities to step up efforts to prevent xenophobia, discrimination and related forms of intolerance based on national, racial or ethnic origin, or immigration status” and called for an end to the deportations.

Despite criticism, the situation non-nationals face in the Dominican Republic looks set to worsen. According to President Abinader, “The Dominican Republic will not only continue, but will increase deportations; therefore, these statements made by Volker Türk on behalf of the United Nations are unacceptable and irresponsible. We will continue the deportations and increase them.” To enable the growing rate of deportations, authorities approved Decree 668-22 on 11 November 2022, paving the way for the government to create a specialised police unit to prosecute and deport migrants living in state or private properties.

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