Berkley Center

Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly states that 1) “Everyone has the right to a nationality” and that 2) “No one should be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality… ” Therefore, when the Dominican government blatantly violated this right by stripping thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent of their citizenship, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) pressured the government to rapidly restore it. This governmental legislation is the culmination of a long history of anti-haitianismo present in the country since the early 1800s.

The history of Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic (DR) is one characterized by high tensions. One factor that contributed to this strained relationship was the necessity for labor on the country’s sugar plantations during the early twentieth century. During the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic between the years of 1916 and 1924, American investors in the Dominican sugar industry needed laborers to maintain their plantations. Native Dominicans, however, did not believe this form of work was a respectable way to earn a living. As a result, this shortage of workers created a “labor vacuum.”

In order to fill this need, American contractors employed Haitians as a source of cheap labor and created living communities called bateyes where Haitian migrants worked in the nearby sugarcane fields. From that time until now, undocumented Haitian immigrants have traveled to these communities, seasonally and permanently, in order to work as sugar cane harvesters. The regular flow of immigrants has resulted in families consisting of Haitian parents and Dominican children of Haitian descent. Discriminatory policies, however, have prevented thousands of these children from receiving their Dominican birth certificates and other identification forms based on their skin color and/or last names. From this early history of Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic, there are still large populations of Haitians that live in these impoverished neighborhoods. Descendants of Haitian sugarcane harvesters have enjoyed the benefits of Dominican citizenship, because they were citizens, until recently.

In 2010, the Dominican government annulled the citizenship of thousands of Dominicans born to non-citizens since 1929. Most of the people affected were Dominicans born to undocumented Haitian migrants. Before Sentence 168-13, the nationality principle of jus soli determined who was considered a citizen, with the constitution defining Dominican nationals as people born on Dominican soil. This new ruling, however, has rendered thousands effectively stateless.

So what does this mean, exactly? Sentence 168-13 makes it impossible for those affected to vote, study, declare their children, travel outside of the country, marry, open bank accounts, and complete other activities they were previously able to do as Dominican citizens. This sentence is the culmination of a long history of racial bias and discrimination against Haitians in general. The majority of Dominicans of Haitian descent whose lives have been altered by this law now live in fear of surprise deportations to a country in which many of them have never stepped foot. Earlier this year, in a weak attempt to remedy the situation of a stateless community, the government passed a new naturalization law (169-14) that would require some of those affected to apply for naturalization using foreign Haitian documents. How is it possible for former citizens to obtain foreign papers? It is not, and that is part of the problem.

Fortunately, there are private organizations in the Dominican Republic such as reconoci.do that work to fight against this injustice by educating those affected by this legislation on their rights as citizens. Reconoci.do hosts workshops in which it provides informational pamphlets and necessary documents concerning citizen rights, and it organizes peaceful rallies to keep this matter in the eye of the public. There are also advocacy groups in the United States that aim to better the lives of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic and to bring awareness to the recent issue. The National Coalition for Haitian Rights operates from New York, and American students use social media to spread awareness about the problem. If the international community ignores this human rights injustice, this unconstitutional legislation will set a precedent of similar, if not worse, acts of racism in the future.