Haitians in the D.R.

How many illegal Haitian immigrants live in the Domincan Republic? What are their main jobs? Is there a lot of unemployment among the Haitians? I'm just curious about their situation in general. Thanks.

Haitians do the menial work that a Dominican will not do, Dominicans will never ever cut sugar cane among other things, Haitians sometimes will work just to eat. Its nothing but slave labor that has been recognised by the Human Rights Organization. And I bet this posting will be deleted, as DR1 do not want this dirty little secret out, as they always do with anything negative, as your question is as ligitimate as my answer is.

See the Friday Daily News posting. It has a brief on Haitian workers in the DR. If you are interested in news on the DR, suggest you subscribe to the DR1 Daily News. You can easily do so at the top of the message board index page or the top of the DR1 Daily News page.

It is a touchy subject , and a complicated problem. I am not sure that no Dominican would ever work in the cane fields, but it could be that the conditions for working in them are very terrible. Between the Haitians on one side and the foreign investors, the Dominican natives are really squeezed to have their own land for themselves, and they have very limited resources. Why is it that so many Haitians come into the DR illegally? And how, when the US is fast deporting Latin American illegals, who come in for the same reason Haitians do, so hypocritically tell the Dominicans they should play host like that to the Haitians. Go figure.

Karen,

From what I've read, there are over 500,000 illegal Haitian Immigrants in the Dominican Republic. Most of the migrants work in the Agricultural business. There is massive unemployment among the Hatians in Haiti, that's why they cross over to the Dominican Republic.

The migrants situation is a pretty grim one. I have seen them begging for money in the Dominican Republic, so I can imagine what it's like in their country.

The Human Rights situation is little weird. If the Dominican Republic starts deporting Haitians, it get's hit with a human rights violation!!! The whole country gets labled as abusive towards them when in reality it's the owners of the plantations commiting the violations. People might say that the government has a commitment to protect these people but I disagree. The government has no obligation to protect illegal immigrants.

Slave labor give me a break!Nobody force them to come and work here.

Hi there-- Having spent ALOT of time working with Haitians in the Dr-- most of them in the urban barrios of Santo Domingo and La Romana as well as on sugar plantations, I have to agree with arcoiris...it IS a very difficult situation.

I have read alot of Dominican history and the whole issue of sugar company recruitment is a really touchy political nerve. Not wishing to become persona non grata with my adopted country or its government all I'll say is that with privitization of th sugar industry the situation for the braceros should become better.

I have also observed first hand-- especially post- Georges-- that the Central Romana Company should be commended for the improvements it has implemented and the new housing it is providing.

Haiti and the Dominican governments need to sit down and work out some kind of treaty whereby Haiti can begin to rebuild itself so that its people don't need to flee. Look at how well the DR has come back from years of pain and economic drought. I just saw an article in AMERICAS about Haiti. If they could put some money into their economy instead of having its people whining how bad off they are, perhaps there wouldn't need to be so many illegals in the DR.

Haitians-- look to your own house for the solution. For anyone interested, contact the National Coalition for Haitian Rights in New York. They have a wealth of info on the situation: www.nchr.org is their web site.

VIVA LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA!!!

Dee

JFelix,

I completly agree with you. When the U.S. Government invaded in 1916, they thought it would a great idea to bring Haitians over to cut cane. First they came by the hundreds, then the thousands and pretty soon you won't be able to tell the differece between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It's just a matter of time till we lose our culture, our language our history.

P.S. Sorry if I offend any of you liberal, can't we just get along, Hatian-loving, lets hold hands Dominicans. There's plenty of your types out there.

nikotyn

Dee,

I agree that Haiti needs to sit down and get's it stuff together, but why should we be there? Because we share the same island? Tell me one good thing that the Haitians have done with the millions of dollas invested in their country?

nikotyn

While there is no doubt that Haitians are "allowed" to cross the Border, once in the DR they are "Personna non grata". Dominicans have not forgotten the years when Haitians brutally dominated them, so it is not surprising that they get very edgy when they realize how many have infiltrated RD. The economic situation is catastrophic in Haiti, and those who can, move. Virtually all the "heavy" work in the RD is done by Haitians who will work for lower wages than Dominicans. Until a major change is made in wages for this type of work, unfortunately the situation will not be resolved. Certainly the RD Government is doing the right thing in starting to regulate the immigration of Haitians, and requiring that they obtain identity papers, but it will probably be years before it becomes a reality. I have the utmost respect for the President of RD, who is stabilizing the situation as best he can in a very tight economy. Viva Republica Dominicana! Canadian Bob.

Listen Felix am not a Hatian lover, but a humamnist do you think its right to take advantage and work somebody just for a daily ration of food??

Well I'm sure Karen has been enlightened. If not as to the reality of the situation of undocumented Haitians in the Dominican Republic, then at least to the attitudes of many Dominicans toward Haitians. A lot of the dialogue that you hear coming from some of the angrier people who have commented date to the Trujillo era, when the Dominican army committed a genocide unparalleled in modern American history, slaughtering between 20,000 and 25,000 Haitians who had lived along the Dominican side of the border for many years. Trujillo was himself of some Haitian parentage, but was obsessively anti-black, and thus anti-Haitian. Even the more recent President Balaguer published a racist diatribe, similar to Hitler's Mein Kampf in its language of racial purity. So these are very ingrained attitudes, exacerbated by a period of Haitian military domination during the early nineteenth century. Still, Dominicans should be more compassionate toward the plight of some of the Haitians here. The fact is that the Dominican government and police has an informal system of bringing Haitian laborers over to work in the sugar cane fields. While I think it is a gross exaggeration to call their situation slavery, it is true that once they have moved into a plantation for the harvest season, armed guards don't allow them to leave until the cane has been cut. It's a real problem, and I can sympathize with Dominicans who worry that their own scant resources are being stretched by an influx of poor immigrants, but I think the angry, and often racist, invective that you often hear is totally uncalled for.

I agree with you Sean,the legacy that the Trujillo left the Dominican so they can venerate him at the time, is to never let a Dominican cut sugar cane, its hard work, akin to picking cotton or now the modern day back breaking job that only here in the west coast only mexican migrant worker do, like picking tomatos, and all the vegetable grown here in the west coast, The only diference is that they get paid minimum wages and some belong to unions, the Hatians that migrate to the DR go there to put food in his stomach, verses the mexican migrant worker that sends money back home and they make that trip to work here every year.The anomosity between Dominicans and Hatians are just historical, its not so much racial since 90% of dominicans are mixed, and alot of them are in self denial as to where they came from. Prejudice and hatred toward others is not the sole exclusivity of the Dominicans, just read the paper and see whats going on around the whole world. Human kind prejudices will never change, the best that we can hope for is that good overcomes evil. Also the hipocracy of the US governement is to better have the Hatians migrate to the DR, then to Miami.The US never followed thru with the stability in that country,and now is reverting back to what it was in the first place.

Arcoiris, I don't understand. You slam the USA for not opening the borders to Latin American and welcoming them with open arms and yet you defend the DR when they try to limit Haitians in the country. Methinks you invoke a double standard!

YOU KNOW NIKOTYN. That is what makes democracy and America GREAT! The same laws that protect me also protect illegals. One may be illegal but they have a right to PROTECTION under the law!

People!!!People!!!

There appears to be a FIRESTORM raging on this subject...justifiably so... this has needed attention for a VERY LONG TIME.

This touches me very closely because I have dealt with both sides of the issue as a missionary volunteer in the DR. This is why my personal comments will be truthful but guarded. I said before and repeat myself now that I do not want to be persona non grata in the Dr...We need to maybe turn attention to the possible solutions and not rehash the problem...we're all too aware of that.

Haiti needs to look to its own house and begin to look for ways to develop itself...instead of whining on the shoulders of others. It has lovely beaches and other areas that can be developed and has craftsmen who produce some of the most beautiful paintings, carvings, baskets, and other objets d'art...Read the latest AMERICAS -- there's an example of what I mean.

I am from Maine...one of the least populated in the US and also sometimes one of the most depressed. But our people are proud and pick themselves up and be creative.

The DR should not get embroiled over there and the US troops that are there should come home...what are we protecting???

I realize the historic, social, economic, and political situation with the Haitians being in the DR are difficult...COME ON PEOPLE... less diatribe and more solution-oriented dialogue...PLEASE.

I asked a Haitian [living here in the States] why some of them have the "attitude" that they do. I was told ,"because we were slaves." Enough said. There is a proverb that says AS A MAN THINKS SO SHALL IT BE.

Slavery does exist but it is also denied...even though it is right under the noses.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SITUATION...like Bette Midler sang so well GOD IS WATCHING US FROM A DISTANCE...

Dee

Another point is that considering Trujillo and Balaguer having anti-Black policies, where does that leave the Black Dominicans? They lag behing the Haitians, who get more sympathy and support than they do, in their own country! The government descriminates against Black Dominicans, White foreign investors discriminate against Black Dominicans, and Haitians come out ahead of them in competition for subsistence. Haitians can go home. Foreign investors can go home. where is the Black Dominican to go?

ech, that is true theoretically, but I have accompanied Guatemaltecos and Chiapans in the INS process, and it has been the worst travesties of justice I have witnessed, well almost. First the van is stopped on the highway to "check".Then they are all arrested and brought to jail (women whose children are at home, and legals, and the whole bunch). Then, when they get around to it, they are sorted through and the legals released. (Forget about filing suit for false arrest and imprisonment). Some of the women are released if their legal status is uncertain. They are presented papers which they are forced to sign. The papers are in English. The hearing officers gives them a spiel, which interrogates them about their legal status, place of origin, etc. which is done very quickly. They are told about legal counsel that there is no time to get a lawyer to be present, unless they can retain one and the lawyer can get here in the next half hour. The ones caught in Connecticut and jailed can be sent to either Louisiana or Pennsylvania to prevent overcrowding in the Conn. facilities. This means that the person is far away from people they know who can help them. The deportation is done the way criminal transportation is done, secretly. The detained deportee is allowed some possessions to be brought to INS to be given to the deportee. If given cash it can be taken in bribes. The cedulas disappear, too. Since noone knows which flight they are on, the family does not know when to meet him, but they probably are held in detention in their country also, and then fined. No pay fine no release. I had lawyers who wanted to help in some of the cases, but the way the INS workd the cases, the lawyers were double talked and double dealed so that they were totally ineffective. Sorry, long post. but you have to know that's the INS for Latinos

The USA does not have a monopoly on rights for illegals. Dr. Guzman, correct me if I am wrong, but I have been told by the Secretary of Labour, that foreigners working ILLEGALY have the same rights to liquidacion, holiday pay, regalia, bonifiacion, etc. as a Dominican.

Hatians who work in sugar fields or construction, have a work permit. I have witnessed a roundup of Haitians in Juan Dolio. Machine gunned military run ahead of an old bus. At full trot they round up any one who is very black. No work permit or cedula, on the bus and to the border. Imagine the poor wife with hungry children, when her husband does not come home. I have seen them with an infant in arms crying their eyes eyes out and walking around bewildered, too scared or too proud to ask for help.

The Dominican papers carried stories of Dominicans mistakenly deported because they looked like Haitians, ie. too black.. I salute the reporters for their courage in reporting these incidents.

Arcoiris, where do you get this thing about discrimination against black Dominicans? There is no discrimination on a basis of colour here, which you would know if you lived here instead of the US.

Even very black Dominicans can aspire to high office. Look at Pena Gomez, who narrowly missed being elected as President in the last two elections. How many black American Presidential candidates came that close. I think we should give Latin America, Canada, and the USA back to the Indians who we stole them from. What do you think?