Haitians Flock to Camps Fearing Dominican Republic Eviction

Tens of thousands of Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans have flocked to makeshift camps in Haiti having been forced to flee the Dominican Republic’s harsh new immigration policy.

The population of four camps alone in the south of the Caribbean island is at least 2,000, according to officials, while some 400 have taken up residence at the Tete-a-l’eau camp, an abandoned village suffering from droughts.

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Many thousands of Haitians and Haitian descendants have recently crossed the border from the Dominican Republic to avoid abrupt deportation. Haitian-Dominicans fear mass expulsion as part of the state regularization plan for undocumented immigrants launched in June.

Haitians living in the Dominican Republic, many who are laborers providing the backbone of the Dominican sugarcane industry, have faced serious challenges in registering with authorities.

In addition to registration spaces falling far short of the number of undocumented immigrants required to regularize their status, many have found the process difficult to navigate with limited information made available by authorities.

For many of those leaving the Dominican Republic, Haiti is completely foreign, where they do not even know the language, let alone have somewhere to stay.

“People here barely have food. Twice the government came and gave out hygiene kits. We need food!” Jean Louis Andres, a refugee who lived in the Dominican Republic for 22 years, told the Guardian.

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Meanwhile, Dominican authorities have reiterated that they are not open to engaging in dialogue with Haiti, insisting that immigration law is a sovereign national issue.

“Dominican immigration policy and its enforcement mechanisms are within the exclusive jurisdiction of our state, and are not subject to negotiations,” said Dominican Foreign Minister Andres Navarro Thursday, according to Diario Libre.

The comments come in response to the release of a report by an Organization of American States mission in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which recommended the body mediate a bilateral dialogue to defuse tensions between the two Caribbean nations.

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