The Crisis |
For more than a decade, Haitians have made a spot for themselves in the culture of the Dominican Republic. They have worked in the same jobs and lived in the same areas as the indigenous people of the Dominican Republic. All of this changed when the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that any individual who was born to parents who came to the country as undocumented immigrants was not guaranteed citizenship. The decision applied to any individual born in the Dominican Republic since 1929 but is enforced the harshest onto Haitians. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic will be forced to leave. Many of the citizens forced to flee have never set foot in Haiti. This new law affected more than 200,000 Haitian immigrants.
This new law has set off an international alarm. This law sweeps thousands of people out of their hometown and drops them off in a foreign area where they were not born and did not grow up. This is simply not fair. There is wide conflict over how to treat immigrants and their families all throughout the world but this is one of the most drastic measures taken against immigrants in the past decade. It plunges immigrants into a constitutional, legal and administrative vacuum. The Dominican Republic and Haiti have a history of bad relations. The relationship is characterized by a sometimes cooperative, often tense and an occasionally violent connection. This decision has only increased the tensions between the two nations that share an island. For decades, Haitians have been discriminated against in the Dominican Republic. They are often referred to as "dark skins". The Dominican Republic is a country full of immigrants but no other group is is treated like Haitians. Haitians are the main group that this new reform is being enforced upon. Other races are conveniently not being convicted. The Haitian and Dominican governments can attempt to fix this issue but there is no way to get around the lasting impacts that it will have. However, both governments should and must improve their relations. These two governments must decide border control laws and agree on their polices to except immigrants. The Haitian people and government must stand up for their rights and bring attention to this issue. The more negative attention drawn to the Dominican Republic from this issue, the more likely the Dominican Republic is to repeal this law. As a whole, the Dominican Republic and Haiti must stand up for their people and rights but discriminating against one certain group will never solve this issue. This new policy will have a lasting effect on Haitians and their families. Haitians have become accustomed to their life style in the Dominican Republic and now they are being uprooted from all things that are familiar. This Supreme Court ruling will have a widespread impact on the relations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti in years to come. Not only will this increase tension but it has potential to cause a major outbreak in both the political system of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Displacing 200,000 people inevitably will have a large impact. |
Sources |
"Dominican Republic Immigration Crisis: Few Haitians Granted Citizenship, Report Says." International Business Times. IB Times, 22 July 2015. Web. 07 Dec. 2015. <http://www.ibtimes.com/dominican-republic-immigration-crisis-few-haitians-granted-citizenship-report-says-2020448>.
Archibold, Randal C. "Dominicans of Haitian Descent Cast Into Legal Limbo by Court." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/world/americas/dominicans-of-haitian-descent-cast-into-legal-limbo-by-court.html?_r=0>. Brodzinsky, Sibyalla. "Dominicans of Haitian Descent Fear Mass Deportation as Deadline Looms." The Guardian. The Guardian, 17 June 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/16/dominican-republic-haiti-deportation-residency-permits>. |