Haitian immigrants who had not registered under the National Foreigner Legalization Plan (PNRE) have said that the Haitian authorities did not let them enter Haiti where they sought to voluntarily return to obtain identity documents and birth certificates to regularize their status in the Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile, a group of lawyers from the Coordinators of Organizations in the South Area of Santiago urged Haitian authorities to process Haitian citizens crossing back into Haiti from the Dominican Republic. Sondra Aime Pierre, who lives in Santiago, told reporters that her sister and brother in law were refused entry into Haiti by Haitian immigration officials when the couple tried to re-enter Haiti to secure civil identity documents they needed for the Dominican authorities to process their application for legal status in the country. Pierre said that the Haitian authorities demanded proof that her sister and brother-in-law had been born in Haiti. There have been other similar stories reported of Haitians being refused entry into Haiti from the Dominican Republic, which has added an unforeseen complication to the immigration regularization process being implemented in the Dominican Republic.
Most Haitians who have migrated to the Dominican Republic are undocumented, a situation the National Foreigner Legalization Plan has sought to correct. The PNRE required the Haitians to secure birth certificates and other essential documents in order to process their residency papers in the Dominican Republic. The government dropped charges and allowed a fast-tracked procedure during an 18-month period that ended on 17 June 2015. But, as stated by former Haitian ambassador in the Dominican Republic, Daniel Supplice, the Haitian government civil registry program has failed miserably in regards to documenting Haitians living in Haiti and abroad. It has been pointed out that most Haitians living in Haiti do not have documents, a major human rights violation. Now, it appears that if these undocumented persons cross the border, they will not be allowed to return unless they can prove their Haitian citizenship.
Enmanuel Azema’s immigration sojourn is revealing a troubling pattern for Haitians living in the Dominican Republic seeking to regularize their immigration status. Azema, who works as a carpenter in Santiago, recounted to reporters that he needed identity documents from Haiti so that he could apply for the Regularization Plan in the Dominican Republic. So he decided to return to Haiti to try and obtain a visa to legally re-enter the Dominican Republic. But Azema said that instead of being allowed back into Haiti by the immigration officers in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, he was detained by authorities and, according to him, mistreated, before being allowed to return to Dajabon, Dominican Republic.
Azema said he crossed the river back into Haiti under the cover of nightfall and returned to his childhood home near the border. After a few days, Azema was able to obtain his birth certificate and identity card in Haiti. But, inexplicably, when Azema applied for a Haitian passport that would allow him to obtain a visa to legally enter the Dominican Republic, the Haitian authorities refused his application.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2015/08/03/382785/siguen-devolviendo-a-haitianos-desde-su-pais