The United Nations Working Group for African Descendants has urged the Dominican government to take measures to stop arbitrary deportations and carry out measures to address the accusations of racism during the deportations of Haitians. The Dominican government has communicated that there have not been deportations since the application of the National Foreigner Legalization Plan gave a time frame for foreigners to legalize their status.
In a communication distributed yesterday, 28 July 2015, the UN experts said they had information that at least 19,000 people had left the Dominican Republic and gone to Haiti since 17 June 2015, due to fear that there may be violation of their rights when deportations began officially in August.
Mireille Fanon Mendes-France, president of the group of experts, said that no one should be deported if there are valid and legal reasons for them to stay in the Dominican Republic. She said that immigrants should be protected and Dominicans of Haitian origin had the right to live safely in the country as did minors born in the country and who had been legally registered.
She went on to say that the Dominican Republic must not violate international rules or the mechanisms for the protection of human rights put forth by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. Above all, the country must not violate its own Constitution.
She also highlighted the difficulties of people trying to obtain the necessary documents to register for the legalization process and the lack of information forthcoming about the deportation plan and the deportations themselves. The former ambassador of Haiti, Daniel Supplice has blamed the Haitian government for failing to issue essential documents to its citizens that are necessary for legalization in the Dominican Republic.
The Working Group called on the Dominican authorities to fight discrimination and social exclusion that the majority of Haitian immigrants face and recommended that the country address racism and xenophobia so that all people in the country could live free of fear.
http://www.listindiario.com/las-mundiales/2015/07/28/382082/grupo-de-trabajo-onu-pide-a-r-dominicana-evitar-deportaciones-arbitrarias