Dominican Republic - Haiti Observer Blog

Since the Dominican Republic (DR) Constitutional Court issued a ruling Dominicans of Haitian descent and the progeny of illegal immigrants are no longer citizens of the DR, the international community has been in an uproar. Haiti made no public comment on the matter until last week.

After a CARICOM meeting, President Martelly and CARICOM Chairman, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, held a press conference to discuss the situation. Martelly was emphatic Haiti would never cut ties in trade with the Dominican Republic. He said Haiti and the DR share the island of Hispaniola, and enacting a trade embargo would not benefit either nation. Trade revenue with the DR amounts to nearly two billion yearly.

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Tensions have escalated between the Dominican Republic and Haiti since the DR Constitutional Court issued a ruling, rescinding Haitian immigrants and their descendents from remaining in the country. The results of this ruling are affecting Haitian entrepreneurs.

Haiti has a large, informal small business sector. Merchants sell items purchased on the black market, sent from the U.S. by relatives, or donated by charities. Biweekly, Haitian merchants cross from Ouanaminthe over to Dajabón province in the DR to vend merchandise at the cross-border market.

Reports picked up by local media say tensions between Ouanaminthe and Dajabón merchants have led to a few skirmishes at the cross-border market. DR Border Security and the military have also detained Haitians, whose profiles have revealed questionable activities. But at the last Monday and Friday market days, it was reported no problems occurred with the border crossing over the Massacre River. These incident-free events have been ascribed to a strong military presence.

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The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has come out strong on the side of Haiti. He said that he has mediated a dialogue between Haiti and the Dominican Republic for the past Month so that they could restart bilateral talks.

These talks are to focus on: trade, border security, migration and the recent Constitutional Court ruling that removed citizenship to Dominicans with origin.

According to Maduro, Haitians and Venezuelans are unconditional brothers. He further referred to Haitians as their older and dear brothers and "whoever messes with Haiti messes with Venezuela".

Nicolas Maduro said that his government would appoint a special envoy to monitor and mediate the current conflict between Haiti and Dominican Republic to make sure that Haitian people are guaranteed their fundamental rights.

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Has the conflict between Haiti and the Dominican Republic reached a point where things can never get back to normal? Here are two of the most expressive acts so far, some Haitians were burning Dominican Flags in response to Haitian Flag burning in the Dominican Republic

Although the two governments have decided on talking for the sake of talking, the problem between the Haitians and the Dominicans is not getting any better. Now it has come down to the ultimate flag burning to show frustration.

Sadly enough, so far there has not been any real leaders arising from this crisis either on the Dominican or the Haitian side.

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Haiti is separated with Dominican Republic by long uneven crooked teeth like barricade on the Massacre River. The armed Dominican border guards sit and stare blankly at the opposite bank from their assigned posts. On the other side of the river, the Haitian women wash clothes on rocks and innocent children splash in the water. CESFRONT is the name of Specialized Dominican Republic's Border Security Force. It was established in 2006 with a purpose to restrict the entry of illegal migrants crossing Haitian-Dominican border.

CESFRONT is an extension of U.S Homeland Department's Security of Customs and Border Protection with technical advice and expertise support to promote "strong borders" abroad as part of U.S war against global terror. Militarized borders are becoming more common all over the world, especially in regions with US influence. U.S quick response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti is a good example on how border associated fears on mass immigration can deploy proactive protective measures. The fact that remains behind these quick, strong defensive measures is that U.S border is no more static. Their homeland security is no more restricted within their homeland--it is international and continuously moving. Washington is making every efforts to "push out" its boundary enforcement regime--an initiative that has roots much deeper than 9/11.

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I wish I coud hear what the two leaders were talking about. Dominican President Danilo Medina and Haitian President Michel Martelly met in Caracas for the Petrocaribe energy cooperation and ALBA summit. They probably talked about everything but the effect of the recent Dominican court ruling that could strip citizenship from people of Haitian descent.

A pictue is worth a thousand words. Take a look at the video below

Based on the video and picture of the two leaders seeing after their meeting, one can think that that there is no issue between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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The Dominican Republic (DR) Court ruling, depriving descendents of Haitian migrants citizenship, has created uproar among the international community. The UN, foreign heads of state, human rights groups, and the U.S. Dominican Diaspora are calling out the government to reverse its decision.

What the Court ruling does is take away descendents of illegal immigrants their birthrights by refusing to grant them their birth documents. Not having birth certificates means the possibility of losing voting rights, basic services, and education opportunities.

A coalition of activist organizations has written John Kerry, U.S. Secretary State, prevailing upon him to use his position to urge the DR to reverse the Court ruling. Within the DR, Dominicanos Por Dereche, another coalition organization, is planning national protests to force the government's hand. Local communities are posting on social media, targeting the DR's $5 billion tourism industry. They are asking tourists to boycott travel to the DR, comparing the Court ruling to South Africa's former practice of apartheid.

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Haitian activist Myrtha Desulme condemned the decision of Dominican Republic Constitutional Court ruling that stripped Dominican citizenship of Haitians who were born on Dominican soil after 1929. Dominican Republic and Haiti share the island of Hispaniola, in the Caribbean. Since the beginning of the twentieth century many Haitians crossed the border of Haiti to escape miserable poverty in homeland and work in the sugar cane plantation in Dominican Republic.

Myrtha said the decision of the Dominican court is racist and abominable, a crime against humanity. It will leave about 210,000 people stateless. Dominicans are now refusing to recognize their own citizens. As South Africa was boycotted during the apartheid era, Dominican Republic must be boycotted with same hatred. The whole global community should protest against the 23rd September ruling given in Santo Domingo, the capital city of Dominican Republic. We have to use the same blue print as was followed against South Africa until the Dominicans accept to come back to the norms of a civilized society.

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