Dominican Republic Mass Deports Thousands of Haitian Immigrants

The complicated relationship between Haitians and Dominicans persists as Haitian immigrants face deportations from DR. At the beginning of October, the government of the Dominican Republic announced that it would begin deporting thousands of Haitian immigrants who were living in DR without documentation. This week, they fulfilled that promise by deporting almost 11,000 Haitian immigrants within days, which marks the largest mass deportation within the last decade. Haiti, which shares a border with DR, is not only struggling to keep up with processing, but is also dealing with unprecedented levels of gang violence and poverty. It has resulted in accusations of human rights violations, both in how immigrants are arrested, held by authorities, and ultimately deported, even if they have their documents. As a result, relations between the two countries have become tense, negatively impacting thousands of lives, according to the Associated Press.

“The forced and mass deportation of our Haitian compatriots from the Dominican Republic is a violation of the fundamental principles of human dignity,” said Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille in a post on X.

Haitian citizens have been migrating to DR since the late 1800s after the Dominican War of Independence. Today, between 650,000 to 1 million Haitians live in their neighboring country, making them the largest minority in DR. However, they are also among the poorest. Many work in agriculture, including sugar, coffee, and cocoa bean production, but because they are undocumented, they are unable to access adequate pay, food, housing, or healthcare. They also face higher levels of discrimination from Dominicans with lighter skin and higher income and educational levels.

“The brutal scenes of roundups and deportations that we are witnessing are an affront to human dignity,” Haitian Foreign Minister Dominique Dupuy said on X. “We strongly condemn these dehumanizing acts and demand respect and justice.”

As a result, Dominican authorities have stated that Haitian immigrants are “overwhelming” social services like schools and hospitals in an effort to justify the deportations, AP reported. However, since mass deportations have begun, accusations of abuse against Haitian immigrants have risen from human rights groups and activists. Dominican authorities have allegedly raped, beaten, and tear gassed Haitian arrestees, as well as held them in jail without food or water. Activists have also seen an increase in abandoned children, with authorities arresting and deporting parents without their children, as well as attacks and blackmail against even immigrants who can present legal documents.

In response, the Haitian government has established a committee to support deported migrants and fight against what Haitian representation Gandy Thomas has called “a strategy of ethnic cleansing” and “a discriminatory campaign against Haitians due to their nationality and color of their skin.” In the past week, 7,591 Haitian immigrants have been deported and 3,323 have been repatriated, according to the Dominican government, the AP reported.

“There are a great number of armed groups that are just like birds of prey waiting to swoop down and take advantage of these people,” Sam Guillaume of Haiti’s Support Group for Returnees and Refugees told ABC News.