conginuing issues with Haitians in DR

mountainannie

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(Miami Herald, July 16, 2010)
After the quake, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have a smoother, but fragile, relationship

Hailed for its aggressive response to the Haiti quake, the Dominican government also has been criticized for denying citizenship to children of illegal immigrants born there.

By FRANCES ROBLES


SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- It wasn't so long ago when the president of the Dominican Republic visited neighboring Haiti, protesters blocked his motorcade by burning tires and hurling rocks.

That was 2005, when Haitian laborers in the Dominican Republic were being lynched, deported, and their shacks burned to the ground. Called a racist and a murderer, President Leonel Fern?ndez canceled scheduled visits to Port-au-Prince and didn't return -- until January, when a massive earthquake toppled parts of the Haitian capital and killed enough people to populate a medium-sized city.

When he showed up by surprise 36 hours after the tremor in a helicopter, he was the first head of state to arrive. Dominican civil defense authorities were already scrambling to send rescue crews, the Department of Health had activated mobile clinics, and the Dominican Red Cross was in place.

Six months after the Jan. 12 quake, everyone agrees that the Dominican Republic stepped up in the critical days immediately following the disaster, when international response was slow and disorganized.

``The Dominican Republic has never responded better to a difficult situation; they responded better than they have to natural disasters in the Dominican Republic,'' said Bridget Wooding, an expert on Dominican-Haitian migration.

The aggressive response came despite bitter tensions between the two nations, fueled by centuries of animosity. And it came just two weeks before a change to the Dominican constitution that denies citizenship to the children of undocumented workers -- virtually all Haitians -- born in the Dominican Republic.

So while Santo Domingo dispatched government civil engineers to fix the electric grid and design roads for Port-au-Prince and invest $40 million in a new university for Haiti, experts say hundreds of thousands of Haitians who were born here decades ago are suddenly stateless.

``It's hypocritical, a complete paradox,'' said Amos Andrada, a journalist of Haitian descent who was refused a national I.D. card recently. ``Leonel Fern?ndez has emerged as the great protector of Haiti. One thing is what he's doing for the state of Haiti and another what he is doing to us, who are Dominicans.''

While the U.S. government's management of the Port-au-Prince airport came under heavy criticism for turning back much-needed aid, the Dominican government launched quick and efficient cargo routes by land and sea. The United Nations in Santo Domingo flew aid and people using some 30 choppers and planes donated by the Dominican businesses.

Although they were not permitted to linger after their surgeries, about 4,000 injured Haitians were treated in Dominican hospitals. Many more were fed and taught in projects launched by the First Lady. One Dominican woman became a celebrity when she left her own babies at home to breast feed Haitian infants in Santo Domingo hospitals.


Bridget Wooding, an expert on Dominican-Haitian migration, was in Port-au-Prince during the quake kicking off the French translation of her book about Haitian migrants: Needed but not Wanted.

``I remember being on the border at 10 p.m. on my way back to Santo Domingo,'' she said, ``and Leonel was personally ringing journalists who work for his foundation to find out whether mobile clinics were operating.''

Haiti's prime minister says relations have not been better in 200 years. But experts worry that the goodwill sown between the two nations in the months since the quake will quickly dissipate, as recovery stalls and more Haitian migrants cross illegally into the Dominican Republic.

While the Dominican Republic is being lauded for its response, the nation -- and its president -- clearly has interests of their own. The Dominican Republic does a half-billion dollars in trade each year with Haiti; plus many Dominicans fear a stampede of quake survivors will descend on the neighbor country. It's also no secret that Fern?ndez enjoys playing the role of regional leader in times of international crisis.

``Sometimes altruism parallels a nation's interest,'' said Florida International University Prof. Eduardo Gamarra, one of Fern?ndez's political advisors. ``It's not that Leonel Fern?ndez woke up on Jan. 12 and realized there was a Haiti. He's been working on this for a long time.''

Gamarra calls the tense relationship over migration issues ``one of the legacies of the past'' and admits that it must be addressed.

Fern?ndez was traveling to Washington this week meeting with President Barack Obama and was unavailable for an interview. Officials at the Department of Interior, the first lady's office and the Foreign Affairs Ministry declined or did not respond to repeated interview requests.

The struggles between Haiti and the Dominican Republic date back hundreds of years, when the island they share was ruled by different colonial powers, the French in the west and the Spanish on the east.

Haitian slaves booted their colonial masters and established their own nation, eventually occupying the entire island. An occupation that was at first welcomed soon soured, and the Dominican Republic to this day celebrates its 1844 independence from Haiti.


In 1937, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the army to slaughter tens of thousands of Haitians. That didn't stop the Dominican Republic from signing contracts with thousands of Haitians to work in sugar cane fields.

By the 1960s, agricultural communities called bateyes were filled by Haitians. They settled and had children.

According to the constitution, the children of people ``in transit'' were not entitled to citizenship. A 2007 Supreme Court ruling backed up a migration law defining anyone who lacked legal residency as ``in transit'' -- regardless of how many decades they had lived in the country.

In January 2010, two weeks after the quake, a new constitution took effect denying citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.

The grown children of Haitian immigrants say the government has applied the new constitution retroactively, denying papers to anyone whose parents did not have legal residency. In Latin America, a recently certified birth certificate is required whenever anyone marries, goes to college, or requests a passport.

``You know what that is that you grow up going to school being told you live in a democracy where there are rights and then they say, `well, actually, starting tomorrow, you are not Dominican, and there is no democracy,' '' said Altagracia Jean Joseph, 24. ``Talk about breaking dreams, hopes and illusions.''

Jean Joseph graduated from high school four years ago and has been unable to register for college or get a formal job. When she tried to register for nursing school, she was turned away.

Siany Jeans Yudel could not apply for a law license. Pedro Jos? Adames could not sign a contract to play baseball. Felipe Siriyan, 27, lost a university scholarship and now works a few days a week in construction.

The issue has been the subject of lawsuits in the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights. One landmark case ruled against the Dominican Republic, saying a migrant cannot be considered in transit for decades and migration status cannot be inherited.

But the cases caused such a backlash here that the laws being disputed as unconstitutional led to the recent permanent changes to the constitution.

``My parents left Haiti in 1957. My daughter is third generation Dominican, and she cannot get the national I.D. card she needs to go to college,'' said Mar?a Camilise, who has spent years tackling bureaucratic red tape for her two daughters.

``My youngest is 20 years old and says to me, `Why did I bother going to high school?' It seems the government wants Haitian women to be prostitutes and the men to be delinquents.''

Her daughter Martha Cuba has only been to Haiti once: as a volunteer after the quake.

Dominican authorities say the only people having trouble are a tiny minority whose Haitian parents held fraudulent I.D. cards when their children's births were registered.

Vice Admiral Sigfrido A. Pared P?rez, the director of immigration services, acknowledged that the government's immigration reform plan that would have offered residency to long-time migrants and their children was shelved when it confronted opposition.

``There are no people who are in legal limbo,'' he said. ``They are in waiting.''

He stressed that all deportations were suspended after the quake and migrants were allowed to visit Haiti to check on their families and return.


``No other country in the world did that,'' he said. ``No other country shares a border with the poorest country in the hemisphere.''

Santo Miguel Rom?n, an immigration service attorney who defended the Dominican Republic in the InterAmerican court, said Haitian descendants should go to the Haitian embassy and register as citizens and then apply for a visa.

``They say we are racist,'' Rom?n said. ``This is a country of black people. My grandmother was black.''

He whipped out her photograph from his wallet to prove it.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said immigration will be among the leading points of discussion at the bilateral commission Haitian President Ren? Pr?val and Fern?ndez restarted two weeks ago.

``We don't want to address the constitutional issues, but we do want to address the case of the Haitians working to consolidate the Dominican economy,'' he said. ``They are working there, they are recognized as working there . . . But they don't want to legalize them for some technical issue. We have to resolve that.''

In the meantime, Jean Joseph, the would-be nursing student, tried to register her birth at the Haitian consulate, 24 years late.

``The guy there said to me, `You think if the Dominican Republic does not recognize you as Dominican, and we have no record of your birth or know who you are, that we will consider you Haitian?'' Jean Joseph said. ``Entire communities are in this situation.''
 

Gabriela

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Excellent article

Thanks for posting. I was born in the Dominican Republic to a German Jewish mother whose citizenship had been revoked by Hitler. DR papers saved her life. The DR should have an amnesty for DR born Haitians and give them the chance to apply for papers. Our Governor General, Michaelle Jean, is the new UN special envoy to Haiti. Perhaps Canada will step up to the plate with special status for Haitians who would like to come here. All nations have to do their part.
 

mountainannie

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Yes-- the editors of the Boston Globe had the same idea.

Sadly this will also contribute to the Haitian "brain drain" / The World Bank estimates that Haiti has lost 50% of her educated population who have emigrated. Quebec is known in Haiti as "Haiti"s foreign assistance program" since it takes in so many eductaed Haitians who wish to immigrate.

The US and Canada and France have long taken the educated Haitian elite and their children.

It is the Dominican Republic that takes the poor, uneducated Haitians.

(Boston Globe, July 17, 2010)
Editorial
Haiti: Expedite visas for family members


Two days after a calamitous earthquake erupted in Haiti in January, President Obama rightly called it ?one of those moments that call out for America?s leadership.?? Since then the United States has done many things to help Haitians, delivering food, medical assistance, and temporary shelter to the island. Sad to say, however, the administration has yet to do one thing that could help significantly: allow the 55,000 Haitians who have already been approved for immigrant visas to join family members here in the United States.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is empowered to grant this relief simply by ordering it, with no act of Congress needed. Congressional quotas created the current backlog of approved visa recipients; children and spouses of legal residents have to wait four years, while siblings of US citizens must wait 11 years. These Haitians approved for entry to the US will come here eventually. If they are enabled to come now, and if they are permitted to work here legally, the money they remit to Haiti will serve as an efficient form of foreign aid, greatly accelerating the island?s economic recovery.

In the past, bureaucratic obstacles have been removed, for humanitarian or national-security reasons, so that refugees from Cuba, Indochina, and Kosovo could enter this country. Haitians are no less deserving.

Obama should instruct Napolitano to allow the 55,000 Haitians approved for visas to come to these shores now, and to expedite decisions on the visa applications of 19,000 other Haitians. This would be the most effective way to take the leadership role America should have in helping Haiti cope with the catastrophe of last winter?s earthquake.
 

bienamor

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Ok approve the 55,000 that have been approved for visa's and then send the 30,000 illegals that they delayed after the quake home. fair enough.;);)
 

bob saunders

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Thanks for posting. I was born in the Dominican Republic to a German Jewish mother whose citizenship had been revoked by Hitler. DR papers saved her life. The DR should have an amnesty for DR born Haitians and give them the chance to apply for papers. Our Governor General, Michaelle Jean, is the new UN special envoy to Haiti. Perhaps Canada will step up to the plate with special status for Haitians who would like to come here. All nations have to do their part.

Yes especially Haiti. All those Haitians that were born in the DR from parents that were there illegally should be given from the Dominican Government- birth certificates that indicate they were born in the DR but are not Dominican and the Haitian government should provide them with papers confirming that they are Haitians. An anmesty would be fine but where would you draw the line - from thirty yrears ago?
 

mountainannie

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Yes especially Haiti. All those Haitians that were born in the DR from parents that were there illegally should be given from the Dominican Government- birth certificates that indicate they were born in the DR but are not Dominican and the Haitian government should provide them with papers confirming that they are Haitians. An anmesty would be fine but where would you draw the line - from thirty yrears ago?


There are twists and twists in this one -- such as the contracted labor that came here from Haiti for the sugar batayes - from agreements between the two governments - but are considered "in transit" for three and four generations......

and the fact that in order to claim Haitian citizenship, one's parents must be born in Haiti.. so if it is one's grandparents - you are out of luck.

There is a program now - the Libra Rosada - which is supposed to register the births of all children of "illegal" Haitians but when I interviewed the doctors in Dajabon they said that in fact it made NO DIFFERENCE to them if the HAITIAN mother had her cedula - if the mother was Haitian, the child was only registered in the Libra Rosada - NOT as Dominicans.
 

Mujermaravilla

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Most Haitian women do not return home after giving birth in Dominican republic
posted on: Apr 1 2010 10:7 by Royston. Viewed 139 times.


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8,500 Haitian give birth each year in hospitals in Santiago, in the North of the Dominican Republic, and on the border with Haiti, but only twelve percent return home after childbirth, according to medical and immigration sources today.

Immigration authorities in the north of the country told reporters that the majority of pregnant Haitians manage to cross into Dominican territory without documents and give birth in hospitals, but then "disappear" from the system.

Sergio Garcia, spokesman for the Hospital, Jose Maria Cabral y Baez in Santiago, the largest in the north, said the health center performs between 80 and 90 deliveries to Haitian women each month.
He explained that last year, doctors in his health center performed 6000 Haitian deliveries, many of these he alleged for women who "came to the country only to achieve that."

Garcia said that foreign patients coming to the hospital are asked to present their passports, "but even if they have no documents, for humanitarian reasons they must be looked after."

Of the total attendees at the hospital, between 15 and 18 percent are Haitian nationals.

Different sectors have denounced the local economic impact for the country caused by Haitian patients attending public hospitals in the Dominican Republic.

Public Health Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez, told reporters this week that investment in Haitian patient care could exceed 1,000 million pesos this year due to the flood of immigrants crossing the border after the earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12.




Ok so, if we give every child born to a Haitian mother Dominican citizenship.... What do we do about this problem? should we not let them pass? That would be inhumane. So I think the pressure should be on the Haitian government to get their act together.
 

pedrochemical

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Ok so, if we give every child born to a Haitian mother Dominican citizenship.... What do we do about this problem? should we not let them pass? That would be inhumane. So I think the pressure should be on the Haitian government to get their act together.


I agree 100% with this.
Well done.

And Bronxboy's (?) idea of giving the children born here a birth certificate that states they are Haitian, but that they should get their passport from Haiti - makes sense to me.
The problem with these children (some now adults) is that even if they want to be productive members of society they cannot - due to the lack of paperwork.

This sounds like a no-brainer and easy to fix from the Dominican side - am I missing something??
 

Mujermaravilla

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I agree 100% with this.
Well done.

And Bronxboy's (?) idea of giving the children born here a birth certificate that states they are Haitian, but that they should get their passport from Haiti - makes sense to me.
The problem with these children (some now adults) is that even if they want to be productive members of society they cannot - due to the lack of paperwork.

This sounds like a no-brainer and easy to fix from the Dominican side - am I missing something??

I don't think it's that easy.... How can the Dominican government give Haitian Citizenship? it can't. Also there can't be two classes of Dominican citizenships. One for Dominicans and another for Dominican-Haitians. I know some people may argue that this is the case now but as of right now they aren't citizens so its not really two classes of CITIZENS.
 

pedrochemical

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I am not suggesting citizenship.
Just a birth certificate to say they were born.
When they want a passport they can go to Haiti and get one because now they have a birth certificate.
They are Haitian citizens.
 

pedrochemical

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Let's put this into perspective also.
Haitians getting a Dominican visa is automatic - they just show up and not have a criminal record - it takes 1 hour and costs 90 bucks for 3 months or 200 bucks for a year. The Dominican residency process costs a Haitian 400bucks (Gringos pay $800-$1000, I know!!).
It is not a very big thing like a Dominican getting a US visa, for example.
If they have a passport and they want to - they will come on a legal visa.

At least if they had certification they would have the choice to do this rather than be stuck here illegally.
 

mountainannie

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Let's put this into perspective also.
Haitians getting a Dominican visa is automatic - they just show up and not have a criminal record - it takes 1 hour and costs 90 bucks for 3 months or 200 bucks for a year. The Dominican residency process costs a Haitian 400bucks (Gringos pay $800-$1000, I know!!).
It is not a very big thing like a Dominican getting a US visa, for example.
If they have a passport and they want to - they will come on a legal visa.

At least if they had certification they would have the choice to do this rather than be stuck here illegally.

That is assuming that the Haitians HAVE birth certificates and passports- there are millions of Haitians with no papers whatsoever. Even today - in Ouanaminthe - the only sort of record that a Haitian gets is the baptismal certificate from the local parish.

According to the Jesuit Refugee Services, they deal with thousands of Haitians here who have no papers whatsoever.
 

pedrochemical

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Hmmmm

That is a solvable problem.

Where my family lives, out in the middle of nowhere, when you are born you get a piece of paper from the hospital or the church/organisation that runs the hospital/ Mud-Hut that you were born in. (the same paper you are talking about) and this can be taken to the capital to get a birth certificate.
If you lose it you can have another one made up - without reference to the original - by getting a local clerk to certify your declaration.
I have been through this process. It is not that difficult at all - with absolutely no original paperwork whatsoever we followed the process in place to eventually get a passport.
2 weeks it took in total.
Around 25US$ to get the certified chit that declared a birth (25 years ago) from the clerk of the village and then the Birth Certificate in Port au Prince.
The passport took another 3 days and cost 100US$ for the fast service, 30US$ for the passport and 200US$ for a year visa to the D.R.

People can do this in Haiti - if they can afford get to Port au Prince, that is.

It is ridiculous in Haiti that you have to travel from Cap Haitian to the capital to get a full driving License. It is a full day each way in a Tap-Tap and very
expensive if you have no money to pay for the fast service - it could take days.

Part of the Brave New Haiti plan is to decentralise government offices.
This would help.
 
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bob saunders

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I am not suggesting citizenship.
Just a birth certificate to say they were born.
When they want a passport they can go to Haiti and get one because now they have a birth certificate.
They are Haitian citizens.

Exactly, and with a birth certificate they official exist and can go to school.
 

Mujermaravilla

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I agree 100% with this.
Well done.

And Bronxboy's (?) idea of giving the children born here a birth certificate that states they are Haitian,

My question is: how can DR give a birth certificate stating that someone is Haitian? wouldn't "stating" someone is Haitian be like bestowing citizenship?

How exactly would this "birth certificate" be worded.
In any case I think if all hospitals were able to give a record of a birth weather Dominican or Haitian and maybe HAVE Haitian officials working at the most popular hospitals for Haitians then maybe the problem would be solved. Then again I don't think the Haitian government wants these kids to be Haitian I think they want them to be in Limbo so DR could look bad and be pushed by the international community to recognize these children as Dominicans so one day they can have tremendous political power over the country. And THAT is why the problem is not being solved... Haiti doesn't want to solve it!
 

Ezequiel

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My question is: how can DR give a birth certificate stating that someone is Haitian? wouldn't "stating" someone is Haitian be like bestowing citizenship?

How exactly would this "birth certificate" be worded.
In any case I think if all hospitals were able to give a record of a birth weather Dominican or Haitian and maybe HAVE Haitian officials working at the most popular hospitals for Haitians then maybe the problem would be solved. Then again I don't think the Haitian government wants these kids to be Haitian I think they want them to be in Limbo so DR could look bad and be pushed by the international community to recognize these children as Dominicans so one day they can have tremendous political power over the country. And THAT is why the problem is not being solved... Haiti doesn't want to solve it!

Mujermaravilla the DR already issue proved of birth to foreign women that give birth here in the DR. Take a look at this article by El List?n Diario:

RD invierte $284 millones en partos de haitianas - List?n Diario Digital

A la madre se le expide un certificado de nacimiento en una hoja de color rosado, a diferencia de la hoja blanca que se entrega a los nacidos de madres dominicanas.

Con esa hoja el hospital certifica que el ni?o o ni?a naci? en ese centro de Rep?blica Dominicana y es la documentaci?n que utilizan los padres para declarar el hijo en su pa?s de origen o a trav?s del procedimiento que establezca la JCE.

El ministro de Salud P?blica, Bautista Rojas G?mez, destac? que a ninguna parturienta extranjera que llegue en busca de servicios a los hospitales dominicanos se le pregunta su estatus migratorio al momento de atenderla. Precis? que la misi?n del hospital es brindar servicios de salud y que el resto corresponde a las autoridades de migraci?n.
 

Ezequiel

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Based on this article from El List?n Diario, ??La Junta Central Electoral?? is issuing PINK birth certificate to foreign women that give birth in the DR, so they can go to their country embassy or consulate to register their child birth.

''A normal Dominican birth certificate is White.''

So, if the Haitian women are not registered their children birth with the Haitian government, and those kids are stateless now, is not the DR government problem. They are already issuing birth certificate recognizing the birth of the child in DR territory. The parents need to be responsible to register their kids with their government authority.
 

mountainannie

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I agree that the use of the Libra Rosada is a good step forward on the part of the DR. This was put into place, as I remember, after the decision of the Inter American Court.

And it would be interesting to look back on the children of Haitians who have been here for generations - were they not issued any sort of birth certificates?

The children are allowed to go through primary school with no papers - it is only that they cannot enter high school without them.

In the end - the longer term solution - is to get birthing faciities on the Haitian side of the border
 

Gabriela

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The long term solution

Is to have birthing facilities, food, shelter, clothing, employment and education on the Haitian side of the border. Then Dominicans would be sneaking into Haiti. In the meantime, perhaps we need a UN Protectorate.
 

pedrochemical

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So what are we saying?
If you are a Haitian (of Haitian parentage) with a pink birth record from the D.R. you can go and get a birth certificate and a passport and a visa from Haiti?


mountainannie -

Can you get into Dominican high-school with this pink birth cert?

If so, then things do not seem all that grim unless you have NO paperwork?

If you have not got a pink birth certificate you are totally stumped?