NEWS & TESTIMONY

2024

Email Testimony sent to Global Detention Project (24 May 2024): "This morning he was picked up by immigration and is being held in a horrible place southwest of Santa Domingo called Haina. He is very traumatized by the experience, and the deplorable conditions. The police throughout the country take Haitian's phones and ask for him to pay to get it back or they will be deported. They are also doing this in the jail. This kind of extortion is very common with the police in the DR. Our friend is frightened to be there, especially through the night. He has no idea what will happen to him, how long he will be held, if he will be deported back to the killing fields of Haiti or left for dead somewhere in the mountains."

2024

Once a month, the Promotion of Support for Haitian and Dominican Immigrants of Haitian Descent (PAYIDAH) provides humanitarian support to Haitians held in Haina. PAYIDAH claims migrants can spend days in Haina without being able to get assistance from their families or their lawyers. According to them, "People spend days in Haina without being able to get assistance from their families or their lawyers."