Crisis looming in Dominican Republic
A refugee crisis is rapidly brewing in the Dominican Republic, where government authorities are crossing their “t’s” and dotting their “i’s” to shirk their moral responsibility and force a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Dominican-born people of Haitian descent as well as Haitian migrant workers. In a brazen violation of human rights, the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court retroactively stripped generations of Dominicans of their citizenship by eliminating the concept of birthright citizenship, sweeping up people whose ancestors immigrated to the country as far back as 1929, in many cases recruited by the Dominican Republic for labor purposes, and making them stateless.
Sant La, Haitian Neighborhood Center vehemently condemns the inhumane manner in which the Dominican Republic has chosen to resolve the issue of immigration. The Constitutional Court’s ruling and the government’s subsequent plans of action are uncouth and a grave insult to human dignity, that which is so cherished by the international community. Because of the history between the two countries, the Dominican Republic’s actions also carry the stain of racism-fueled xenophobia against Haitians, those of Haitian ancestry and those who so much as look Haitian.
The number of individuals affected by this statesponsored catastrophe will surpass the number of people who were victim to the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. The earthquake was an unforeseen natural catastrophe while this one is man-made, projected, and planned. More than 500,000 Dominicans, including 60,000 Dominican children, stand to be shoved across the border to a country about which they know absolutely nothing, all because an ancestor or two once called it home. And the international powers have been eerily quiet on the matter.
Imagine the fear, anguish, and humiliation for so many who may be condemned to a future of bottomless uncertainty. Not one word has been uttered by the international powers to say that there will be consequences for the Dominican Republic if they follow through on forcing out hundreds of thousands of Haitians and those of Haitian-descent after their economy has benefited from their hard labor decade after decade. There have been no threats of sanctions or anything else that could be a deterrent to keep the Dominican Republic from following through on a plan that will bring nothing but strife to Haiti and its people.
We urge the community to speak up. The community is anyone, of any nationality, in any country, who decries the Dominican government’s barbaric plan. Denounce the country’s actions on every platform. Call on friends and family to do the same. Stand up for human dignity. Stand up for justice. Stand up for human rights. The state-sponsored movement of a massive body of people who belong in a certain category as a form of population control is an ugly iteration of racism that has been witnessed many times before, be it Apartheid, the Holocaust, or Chattel Slavery. Let us not stand by and witness this. Call the Dominican Consulate in your region and be heard. Do not spend your money on or in the Dominican Republic. Make them hear. Because it is up to the community to make sure the Dominican Republic does not set a disastrous precedent.