Sad homecoming for Haitians deported from Dominican Republic

Haitians living in the neighboring Dominican Republic, are being arrested under a tough new immigration policy, then left at the border to start life over from scratch.

Human rights groups are feverishly documenting the accounts of many people, caught up under the new Dominican law in sometimes arbitrary arrests since it took effect in June.

It stems from a 2013 court ruling that said people born in the Dominican Republic of parents without legal residency are no longer considered Dominican. Most are of Haitian origin.

Unfolding is a nasty fight between the 2 countries. They share the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean.

For many Haitians, the treatment amounts to racism against black people by Dominicans, most of whom are lighter skinned and of mixed heritage.

Overnight, more than 250,000 people – mostly those born of Haitian parents – became stateless under the court ruling. In response to an international outcry the Dominican Republic established a process by which some 50,000 of those immigrants would be allowed to stay. But the majority were unable to finish the process in time for a June 17 deadline.

Documents that were slow to arrive from Haiti and Dominican registration offices were overwhelmed by crowds.

So Haitians are being deported.

At an immigration processing office, Haitian clerks fill out forms for the new arrivals, who receive a paper from the International Organization for Migration stating they have in fact registered their entry.

On the sidelines of all this, Haitian aid organizations gather information from the people arriving, such as when they were arrested and how long they had been living in the Dominican Republic. The data is entered onto forms prepared by the UN refugee agency.

The arrivals are asked where they are going to go in Haiti. But few have an answer.

For the officers working here in Malpasse, one of 4 border crossings, scenes of despair are common as deportees arrive day after day. “They arrive by the dozen with nothing in their pockets,” said one immigration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It is just not right.”

The crisis marks yet another chapter in often troubled relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. But this one is too much, say Haitian civil society organizations.

Source: AFP