Following the deportation of ex-Haitian military officials from the D.R. to Honduras, a mass operation to repatriate Haitians illegally residing here has been undertaken. According to press reports, more than 5,000 have been sent back to Haiti during the last two weeks. The operation has been criticized by the Dominican Committee on Human Rights, Virgilio Almanzar, who claims that members of the military have deported Dominicans of Haitian descent, taking away the documents that prove they are nationals. Another organization, the Asociación Pro-Fundación Estudios Dominicanos (APROFED), which is formed by a group of smaller business, educational and environmental organizations, claims that the human rights of the Haitians sent back to their homeland have been violated with random arrests, the taking away of their documents and the abandoning of infants born here. The deportation operation has included Santiago, Mao, Puerto Plata, Montecristi, Santiago Rodriguez and Santo Domingo. Some commentators have suggested that this latest measure to remove Haitians from the D.R. is in some way related to the claims by presidential candidates Leonel Fernandez and Jacinto Peynado that the master list of registered voters contains thousands of Haitians.
The presence of Haitians in the Dominican Republic, legal and illegal, has been an economic reality for years, especially in the sugar cane fields and in informal trade in the capital and cities near to the border.
10-16 May 1996