AJWS Statement on the Dominican Republic’s Mass Deportations to Haiti

American Jewish World Service (AJWS) strongly opposes the Dominican Republic’s recent wave of inhumane mass deportations to Haiti.  

Even before Dominican President Luis Abinader announced on October 2 plans to expel up to 10,000 people per week, his administration was carrying out deportations in ways that violated the country’s own protocols and laws. 

There have been numerous reports of authorities detaining and deporting pregnant and lactating women and women with small children; hauling off unaccompanied children and adolescents; and arbitrarily detaining Dominicans of Haitian descent and Black Dominicans, even those without ties to Haiti. Authorities are withholding food and water from detainees for multiple days; raiding people’s homes at early hours without warrants; robbing migrants of their belongings including cash and telephones; and detaining and deporting  people who showed documented proof of their legal right to remain in the Dominican Republic, as well as those granted special protections by the United Nations.   

The mass deportation order will only exacerbate the abuses being perpetrated by authorities. It has already incited violence against civil society and human rights defenders. In one egregious instance, ultra-nationalists filmed themselves attacking the office of MOSCTHA, a Dominican non-profit organization that offers health care services to Haitian migrants, their descendants and other vulnerable populations. 

While countries have the right to deport people in their territory who are in irregular migration status, governments still have a responsibility to adhere to international laws regarding human rights and dignity in implementing any deportation policy.  

Therefore, AJWS calls on the Dominican Republic to:  

• Halt all detainment and deportations of migrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent who possess documentation demonstrating their legal status in the Dominican Republic.  

• Ensure that the protected groups outlined in the Dominican migration protocols (including minor children, pregnant and lactating women, women with dependent children and the elderly) are protected from detainment and deportation.  

• Take measures to stop abuses being committed by authorities in the process of deportation as well as any operations that violate Dominican deportation protocols and international human rights law. 

• Regularize the migration status of Haitian workers and their families so that they can continue to contribute to the Dominican economy in ways that benefit Dominican society and reduce their vulnerability to abuse by Dominican authorities and employers.  

• And prosecute individuals and organizations that incite violence and hate and that unlawfully intimidate and harass individuals and organizations working to defend human rights in the Dominican Republic.