Since the TC Ruling 168/13 was published in the Dominican
Republic – a law which the Dominican Government put in place against foreigners
living on their territory, people who do not have legal permits to remain in
the country – There is a xenophobia mixed with racism that has been declared on
the other side of the border that targets especially those who have dark skin,
Haitians in particular. Before this ruling, the Dominican constitution
recognized every person born on its territory as a Dominican citizen following
the law called “Jus soli,” which meant that anyone born on its territory was
Dominican.
TC Ruling 168/13 reinforced another retroactive decree that the
Dominicans took, which declared that people who were born on Dominican soil
after the year 1929 lost their Dominican nationality – in particular Haitians.
This is a measure that violates all international and regional laws. It is a
measure against human rights, an illegal measure. No country on this earth
has ever denationalized its citizens! All countries, especially those in
Latin America, are protesting against this measure; many protests have been
held all over to denounce the situation that the Dominican Republic is creating
in the area.
To counter the protests that are coming from all over, the
Dominican Republic, created what they call PNRE (National Plan of
Regularization of Foreigners), where they give immigrants, Haitians and other
foreigners that are living on the territory, the chance to collect their legal
documentation in order to remain in the country. In the meantime, even if
the Dominican government told those people that they could apply at no cost,
the people still have a lot of fees that are incurred including a notary,
lawyer, etc. They do not have the money to put together the documents that are
being requested. The process is very tedious, but there are no means to even
assist all of the Haitians that are considered illegal obtain their papers. The
deadline for people to rectify their situations expired on June 17, 2015 at
7:00 pm. Those Haitians who are unable to obtain these regularization papers
will be illegal or stateless.
The people are panicking and leaving the Dominican Republic in large
numbers. The Haitian government, on its end, created a program PIDHIP
(Identification Program with Haitian Documentation). The consulates in the
Dominican Republic are supposed to give those people passports and national
identification cards. In reality, they don’t have enough documents to
distribute, and they are asking the undocumented to pay for this
service. The program is ineffective. As soon as the Haitian ambassador in
the Dominican Republic, Mr. Supplice, denounced the program, the Haitian government
fired him.
The governments of both countries are pointing the finger at
each other. For example, the Haitian government is claiming illegal
deportations, persecutions, and violence, while the Dominican government is
claiming voluntary deportations. Since the deadline has passed, it is estimated
that there are more than 45,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitians who
were living there without papers who have returned to Haiti. In reality,
Haitians who are living in the Dominican Republic are being persecuted.
Dominicans are committing violent crimes against Haitian descent Dominicans,
stealing their possessions, land and homes with all of their belongings. We
have the refugees’ testimonies clearly stating that they have no
protection.
Based on the principle that we must see with our own eyes and
hear what the refugees have to say, the Lambi team went to Anse a Pitre on July
23, 2015, where there are two large refugee camps. Ansapit is a small village
that is a part of the Commune of Belans, Southeast Department, on the Dominican
and Haitian border. The majority of the people in the area live on
fishing. To get there, we go through Croix des Bouquets, Ganthier, Fond
Parisien, Fond Verette, Foret des Pins and Thiotte. The village of Ansapit
is situated approximately 80 kilometres from Port au Prince. The roads are
not great; it took 4 ½ hours to get there. The area is arid and has a lot
of dust. Before you enter into the village of Ansapit, you go through Bannann
where we saw the two refugee camps. We say “refugee camps,” but in reality
it is a grouping of people who occupied the space after crossing the
border. The people shared with us that they do not have anyone there to
welcome or receive them. They do not have tents, and there are not even tarps
to provide them with shelter. They take cover under 4 wooden sticks that they
planted and covered with cardboard or old rags that cannot not protect them
against the sun or the rain.
At the first camp we saw a group of people with small pails in
hand seeking water. We asked if we could meet with them. They said
they were going to a nearby town and they would be back later. A man who
seemed to be a leader said, “ok, I will organize a meeting with you.” We
passed in front of the second encampment and then continued to go to Anse
a Pitres. Anse a Pitres is not very different from other villages in
Haiti. There is no electricity, no infrastructure and very limited
movement of people. However, there is water because I saw a poster indicating
there was a joint project between Haiti and the DR to bring potable water and
water for irrigation. The people living in Ansapit indicated that the
Ministry of Agriculture does not help the inhabitants to plant, so the water in
the irrigation canal is going to waste.
We went to the border, but on this day there was hardly any
movement on either side. It was not market day. There was a
construction site on the Dominican Republic side that appeared to be a market
site, but there was no activity. It all seemed normal. We noted that
due to the heat, the immigration officers took refuge sitting outside under the
trees with no apparent activity.
We left the village and went to another encampment, the one that
we really came to observe.
In the first area we learned that there are 218 families living
there. We observed a general state of destitution in the way people are
living under the scorching sun. In addition, the vast majority are mostly
women and children. One woman invited us to shelter from the hot sum in her
makeshift shelter of pieces of material all torn up. She had nothing in
there just a bucket, a pan for cooking, and some old rags/tattered clothing.
She did not even have a straw mat to sleep on. However with much
politeness she asked one of her 8 children to get a bucket and turn it upside
down. She put a cushion on it so that a member of the team could sit on it. She
apologized since she could not offer a chair to all four of us. Her
face was in distress. She is 35 years old, and her name is Marina.
Marina related that she was born in Pedernales (a town in the
Dominican Republic that is across from Anse a Pitres). Her mother and
father came long ago to the Dominican Republic in search of a better
life. She is not sure where her parents are from in Haiti. They have
both died. She said she is a Dominican but does not have the documents to
prove this; however, the hospital where she was born has documentation of her
birth. She knows no one in Haiti. She is sitting there not
knowing her fate and that of her children. She hasn’t seen any government
officials to tell them what they can do for them. She is about to lose her
mind; however, she must remain firm in order to save her children. Marina
is courageous woman.
We asked Marina if she was forced to return to Haiti. She
said “no,” it was her choice because where she lived, she was threatened often
by the Dominicans. Whenever she met a Dominican, they would remind her
what Trujillo did in 1937 when so many Haitians were assassinated. She
left the DR because of fear. To protect her children, she crossed the border,
but her husband stayed. We asked her if she had come through immigration
services. She said she came across the river to arrive at this particular
place. Her husband works in the bateys and on other plantations. She
was a domestic worker. Their children of age attended school.
“Even though life was not great in the Dominican Republic, we
were able to etch out a living,” Marina told us.
When we asked about her outlook on the future, she stated that
she does not have a vision of tomorrow. There is no indication of
support from the state; the administration of Haiti has abandoned
them. It was a pastor who brought them a small amount rice, hardly enough
to feed the family. Marina is in a state of despair.
When other people realized we were sitting with Marina under her
tent, they came to bring their own testimony and experiences. A woman who
did not share her name said she was walking when a bus stopped next to her and
the occupants made her get on the bus. She told the driver that she had two
kids at home. The driver who seemed to be a good soul, took her to pick up
her children, put them on the bus, then took them to the border. Her
husband has no idea what happened to her, though she has tried to send him
messages.
Many people gathered at Marina’s place, but many refused to
talk. They were listening, at times approving or agreeing with what was
being said. It seems that everyone had the same issues. Those born in the
Dominican Republic are Dominicans and do not know anyone in Haiti. Others had
gone to the Dominican Republic to escape poverty in Haiti. There are people in
the Dominican Republic who have been there between 4 to 10 years. Many of
them were working in the plantations, but many had no regular jobs and were doing
what they could find daily. In general, they have no official
identification, Dominican or Haitian.
The conditions they are living in now are horrendous. They
are in the dirt, food is insufficient, they have no secure shelter, and many
express a sense of loss of respect and dignity. In spite of the difficulties
they are facing, at no moment did they ask us for money. They keep asking
for work.
The second camp we visited had 138 families who were living
there. Pastor Harris previously told us he was organizing a meeting for us at the
church with those living in the camp. He constructed the church location with
coconut leaves and made some makeshift benches with wood. When we arrived
at the church, there were about 30 persons waiting for us, people of all ages,
elderly, young men and women and a lot of children.
We introduced ourselves as concerned Haitian citizens who came
to find out about the current situation. There was a lot of information
circulating but nothing specific to living in the camp. Our purpose was to
be informed and to share the information with other Haitians who are concerned
as well. We needed to mobilize on these issues. We promised to
disseminate the information everywhere we could.
Pastor Harris, with a young man who appeared to be a leader,
spoke and explained what was occurring in this site. Pastor Harris said he came
from Bèlfontèn and went to the DR 16 years ago. His parents worked as lessees
on a plantation, and when they died, he had no place to go and returned to Port
au Prince to seek employment. He could not find any means to earn a
living, so he went to the DR with a group that was going to work in the fields. He
had been working as a farmer until he was able to find a piece of land to work
for himself. In his mind, the Dominicans have never accepted the presence
of the Haitians in spite of the fact it is Haitians who work in the
plantations. However, they were not threatening to kill them as in the
last few months. He said that when they burned his house he realized he
could not stay in the country that is such an enemy, so he crossed the river
and landed here without a place to stay, no job with nothing. He is not begging
for charity, but he asked the government to help them work the land for
agriculture. There is water and land available for farming where they are
currently.
Those
camping in these two sites have no representation from any government institutions
or anyone else. The Prime Minister and the first lady of Haiti visited the
site. They said they would give each person some money to go back to their
town of origin. Most of the people who are there do not know where their family
originated in Haiti. They were born in the DR or left Haiti many years
ago. They are not linked to family in Haiti, so what would they do when
they arrived at the place of origin of their ancestors? They do not belong
here in Haiti in many ways. The government must have a planned program to
relocate them where necessary.
The
majority of people in the camp are women and children. Children are
scattered everywhere. In the same way the first camp is, the second is
similar. There is no shelter or even a tarp to protect people against
dust, sun and rain. There is no food available.
There
are numerous pregnant women who returned to Haiti. Many babies are born on
the site in very bad circumstances. In the group there is a woman who recently
gave birth to a baby. She is holding the baby, and she wrapped the baby to
protect her from the dust; only her little face is visible. The mother’s face
is stressed. She said she has no husband here, “I am here with my arms hanging
on my side; what will I do?” Her two other children are in the DR with their
father. I was very afraid because I saw a Dominican bust the head off a Haitian
with a machete, and I ran and cross the river to get here.
There
was a fairly old gentleman who said he was born in the Dominican
Republic. He went to school and studied electronics. He earned a
living with his training until he was caught in the street, detained, placed on
a bus and dropped at the Haitian border. He has had no news of his wife
and their four children. He is trying to go back, but in the
Dominican Republic, he has no papers.
One
woman in the group was complaining. She was hungry. The rice that she
received from a pastor from time to time was not enough to feed herself and the
four children. She asked what the government is going to do for
them. They are praying that the rain does not come because they have a
very poor shelter. If the rain comes, the small children may get sick or even
die.
We
asked them if the Ministry of Public health had been there. They answered
no. In the Ansapit, there is one community clinic, and we asked if they
could go there? They indicated that they were not sure. The Mayor of Anse
a Pitre came once to the camp when the First Lady of Haiti came to visit. No
one has returned since.
The
pastor is accompanied by a younger man who is trying to organize the two camps
and restore order reduce potential crime, but it is rather difficult. They
really need the presence of government officials in the country. Many
representatives of the NGOs have come by, talked to them, taken pictures and
made promises; however, none have returned. What the refugees find most humiliating
is the journalists from the Dominican Republic who come to take pictures and
ask them what the Haitian government has done for them. Today they
received the Lambi Fund because we offered up front that we are here fact
finding so that we can circulate the information to others so they know what is
happening in Bannann/Anse a Pitre. They trust us.
In
one testimony after another, the situation they are living is the same. The
state has no presence there. There is no official center to welcome them. It
seems that there is no plan to help them. However, the people continue to
cross the border. On a daily basis the Dominican people as well as the
Dominican police are committing egregious acts of violence against the
Haitians. They relate that even Dominican friends are rising against them.
In
October 1937, Haitians in the Dominican Republic were victims of an “ethnic
cleansing” that the racist government of Trujillo organized. 26,000 Haitians
fell victims of violence. This cleansing in 2015 is a prolongation of the
same as that of 1937, but in another form. The conditions that allow the
Dominican government to attack the Haitian people with impunity are ever
present. If the Haitian people do not stand mobilized, not only to build a
solidarity chain across the nation to support the people the Dominicans are
pushing out, but also to radically change the conditions that result in the
humiliation of our people, the same causes will continue with similar
consequences.
