This week in Haiti
Along Haitian-Dominican Border
Discovers Increased Violence & Systematic Deportations
An eight-member delegation of US-based human rights activists, religious leaders and journalists urgently calls attention to the rising violence against Haitian immigrant workers in the Dominican Republic and to a new, more refined approach of Dominican authorities seeking to camouflage what remain brutal, arbitrary, and illegal deportations.
"Authorities apparently want to give the impression that violence and deportations along the border are down," said the Rev. Lucius Walker, head of Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) and delegation member. "In fact, we found that they are up, but more cleverly disguised. There are daily constant deportations all along the border, which has lowered the profile but not the pain."
The delegation found that Dominican soldiers routinely extort money from merchants and shoppers which visit the Friday and Monday markets in the northwestern town of Dajabon. The government of Hippolito Mejia has turned a blind eye to this corruption, although it is at the root of much of the region's violence.
During its six-day visit, the international delegation learned that mass deportations have taken on a new form. Instead of sporadic waves of massive expulsions, involving large-scale military operations in rural areas coupled with media fanfare, Dominican authorities have scientifically systematized its flagrantly illegal repatriation practices.
Military and immigration officials said this week that they have expelled some 12,500 workers to Haiti in the last month alone. This figure represents a significant increase in previous monthly totals, say many human rights groups that the delegation interviewed. Based on figures cited by the Dominican army, deportations during the latter half of 2000 averaged 10,000 per month.According to Dominican human rights groups as well as Dominican and Haitian officials, the round-ups of Haitian workers now occur routinely around the country, not just in agricultural zones in and around coffee or sugar plantations. The delegation learned that Dominican authorities are targeting new immigrant communities, especially in urban areas.
The Haiti Support Network delegation visited the border towns of Dajabon
and Barahona, inteviewed human rights activists in Santiago and Santo Domingo,
and traveled to half a dozen bateys located outside Santo Domingo, Puerto
Plata and Barahona. The delegation found the following:
1) The level of violence and extortion directed against Haitian workers and merchants has risen dramatically in the last month, particularly in the northwest border area. There, Dominican soldiers shot and killed three Haitians in the month of March alone. The delegation witnessed the effects of this violence, interviewing one mother of eight in the Dajabon hospital who was severely beaten for refusing to pay a bribe to a military-affiliated civilian.
2) Under the new Mejia government, expulsions have become more systematic while at the same time more discreet. Based on the reports of local human rights groups, Haitian deportees, and our own observations, there was an average of 200-300 people deported everyday from Dajabon on April 5, 6, and 7. Following the migration patters of Haitian workers from agricultural labor to urban-based production, the deportations are increasingly spreading to towns and cities across the country.
3) The conditions in the bateys are worsening as privatization takes hold. The exploitation of braceros has grown while their living conditions, already horrific, have deteriorated. More generally, the delegation learned that neo-liberal policies in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, such as lowering tariffs and privatization, are increasing pressure on rural farmers to uproot and search for work elsewhere.
4) The delegation was impressed to learn that Haitian-Dominican solidarity was robust and growing. Thousands marched on the streets of Ouanaminthe in Haiti and Dajabon in the Dominican Republic in a day of solidarity and reflection last Thursday. The delegation learned also of the closing of the Haitian-Dominican border by Haitian and Dominican truck drivers protesting violence by the US-backed Dominican military.
5) The delegation was troubled to learn of the growing role of the US government in training and supporting the Dominican military under the guise of a "war on drugs." We fear that Washington may at some point seek to advance its agenda through the Dominican military, the only armed force remaining on the island of Hispaniola. US financial and technical support only encourages the inhumane polices which the Dominican military enforces against the Haitian and Dominican people.
"Knowing that the U.S. has military invaded both the Dominican Republic and Haiti four times, we are concerned about the influence the Pentagon might exercise over the Dominican Army," said Dan Coughlin, a journalist and delegation member. "Mass deportations can be used to destabilize Haiti, infiltrate agents, and create a pretext for intervention. As political tensions continue in Haiti, we will be carefully watching for danger signs along the border."
The Haiti Support Network (HSN) is a coalition of groups and individuals dedicated to supporting the democratic rights of the Haitian people in Haiti and around the world. It has conducted several delegations to Haiti since its founding in 1995. It is based in New York City.
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