We, the undersigned civil society organizations and academic institutions and networks working on migration, displacement, and human rights in the Americas strongly condemn the Dominican Republic’s plans to deport an estimated 10,000 Haitian migrants daily to unsafe conditions in Haiti. Haiti is in no condition to absorb deported Haitians. The country is facing an out-of-control security and humanitarian crisis. The Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti is understaffed, underfunded and resource poor. It is not a peacekeeping operation, as such it cannot detain this level of violence and destruction. In Haiti there is a history of foreign security forces generating problems and committing abuses in the country.
Sending Haitians back involuntarily is inhuman and cruel. Violent gangs have taken over different areas forcing people to flee to safety and making it impossible for persons to work and meet their basic needs. Over 450 businesses and homes have faced destruction due to fires set by the gangs. An estimated “1,379 people were killed or injured and another 428 were kidnapped between April 1 and June 30, 2024,” according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti. The situation is particularly dire for women, girls and pregnant women. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported a 49% increase in gender-based violence in 2023.
According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)’s Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) Haiti is suffering a hunger emergency. An estimated 5.4 million people are unable to feed themselves and their families daily. Aside from a security crisis that began after the assassination of President in October 2021, WFP reports that two million Haitians are “facing extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition and high disease levels. ” The number of internally displaced has shot up in the past six months to an estimated 700,000. These IDPs live in makeshift shelters in about 100 sites in Port Aux Prince. Of these, an estimated 6,000 are experiencing “catastrophic levels of food insecurity due to“food shortages, acute malnutrition and high levels of disease.” These IDPs are “facing starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels. ”
Massively deporting Haitians adds insult to injury when there exists systemic racism, xenophobia and rejection of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent. Many Dominicans of Haitian descent have lost their nationality and face precarious circumstances. Their social leaders are under attack including death threats and social media harassment by nationalists who wish to rid the country of Haitians. Haitian migrants who labor in the country are often mistreated and abused. The international community must condemn this plan and urge that the rights of Haitian migrants, laborers and Dominicans of Haitian descent are respected immediately.
To read the full statement, click here.
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Publish date : 2024-10-16 07:56:00
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