Dominican Republic's Treatment of Haitians Under the Spotlight

Edited by Ivan Martínez
2015-07-04 10:45:35

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Santo Domingo, July 04 (teleSUR-RHC) The Dominican Republic is set to receive a U.N. mission to assess the country's immigration situation, as tens of thousands of Haitian-Dominicans face mass deportation.

Foreign Affairs Minister Andres Navarro announced on Thursday that the Dominican Republic welcomes a U.N. delegation to verify the country's claims that there have not been violations of the human rights of Haitian immigrants.
Immigration authorities denied on Thursday that mass deportations of Haitians will commence when the deadline for undocumented people to voluntary leave the country comes down on Monday. Authorities have also agreed to cooperate with an Organization of American States inquiry, saying the country has “nothing to hide.”

The U.N. has urged Haiti to rethink its regularization plan to ensure that it does not violate the human rights of Haitian-Dominicans and provoke a new refugee situation. Dominican authorities have insisted their actions fulfill their U.N. human rights obligations.

In a speech to the U.N., Navarro said that the regularization plan “has been a victory for human rights,” adding that it has required economic sacrifices on the part of the government to execute the plan.
But, as poverty-stricken and resource-scarce Haiti has already expressed it is not equipped to deal with an influx of tens of thousands of migrants, a refugee crisis of humans could be on its way to the shared Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

Authorities have said they will reassess the situation and next steps when the period granted for voluntary departure ends on Monday.

Dominican President Danilo Medina could decide to extend the deadline for voluntary repatriation for 15 days.

Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul denounced the “inhumane treatment” and violation of human rights of Haitian descendants on Thursday after welcoming a group of 21 Haitians-Dominicans arriving at the border from the Dominican Republic, including eight children.



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