Solidarity with expelled Haitians from the Dominican Republic
By
G. Dunkel
Published Jun 5, 2005 11:19 PM
On May 16, the Dominican government rounded up and
expelled at least 3,000 Haitian residents and Black Dominicans, including many
migrant workers. The round-ups came just days before tens of thousands took to
the streets in neighboring Haiti to celebrate the creation of that
country’s blue and red flag 202 years ago on May 18.
May 23 protest against the deportation of Haitians at Dominican Republic Consulate in Manhattan
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The Flag Day
ceremonies were sponsored by the illegitimate government now in control of Haiti
under United States/United Nations auspices. But the tens of thousands who came
out in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere made it clear that they want democratically
elected Pre sident Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned, the constitution respected,
the 2,000 political prisoners currently in jail freed and an end to political
repression.
Since the UN “stabilization force” protected the
demonstration, Haitian police only attacked it at the end. Samuel Joseph, who
lived in the poor neighborhood of Cite Soleil, was shot dead in front of his
wife and two children on the same corner where another protester was killed Feb.
28. Two other protesters were also seen to fall in the police attack.
Days
earlier, the Dominican Army had rounded up any Black people it found on the
streets—children going to school, parents coming home, shoppers,
workers—after four Haitians were arrested and charged with killing a
shopkeeper.
Even when those captured had documents indicating they had
legal authorization to be in the Dominican Republic, the soldiers destroyed
their papers, then loaded them onto buses and trucks and shuttled them to the
border. Most of those deported were women and children.
According to the
Rev. Regino Martinez of the Jesuit Service for Refugees in Ouanaminthe
(Wanament): “Never have we seen such a massive and indiscriminate
repatriation, including boys, girls and pregnant women. The worst is that many
Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitians who have legal status were
included.”
The presence of thousands of totally destitute people on
the border just adds to the growing misery inside Haiti. Haitians go to the
Dominican Republic, itself a very poor country, because Haiti is so much poorer.
Haiti’s per capita income is one-quarter the Dominican
Republic’s.
According to Haiti-Progres newspaper (May 25-31), it is
likely that the Dominican government used the expulsions to get rid of easily
replaced seasonal workers, while the illegitimate government in Port-au-Prince
now gets a distraction, a cause and an issue it can use to hide its complicity
in the misery afflicting the Haitian people.
While only one major
newspaper in the United States, the Houston Chronicle, covered the expulsions,
the Dominican and Haitian communities in this country have their own sources of
information and responded quickly.
Dominican, Haitian communities
respond
A group of Haitian and Dominican organizations in New York
City jointly sponsored a May 23 picket line in front of the Dominican Consulate
in Times Square.
Radhames Perez of the Movimiento Revo lucionario Nuevo
Patria declared: “It is not the Dominican people who lead this campaign
against our Haitian brothers and sisters. It is the reactionary policy of the
government of President Leonel Fernandez and the Dominican ruling
class.”
A number of North American progressives also joined the
protest.
The Rev. Luis Barrios, a well-known professor of sociology at
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, had earlier drawn up an open letter to
President Fernandez that he circulated in Spanish. The Dominican Coalition in
Solidarity with the Haitian Community in the Dominican Republic translated it
into English. It was presented to the consulate May 23 by a Solidarity Coalition
of both Dominican and Haitian activists.
The letter states: “This
case demonstrates how endemic anti-Haitianism is in the Dominican Republic and
how much it is justified, promoted, and blessed within the society. To make
matters worse, discrimination and racism also led to the deportation of more
than 50 Dominican citizens because they are Black and minors without the
appropriate protection and supervision. Racial hostility, blatantly expressed
through collective panic, reflects the historic and cultural prejudices toward
the Haitian community.”
It continues, “This Solidarity
Coalition recognizes that it is not correct or possible to deny the fact that
within the construction and sugar industries—just to mention two
examples—the Haitian community throughout the years and into the present
has made significant contributions to the national life of the Dominican
Republic.”
Furthermore, “As a Solidarity Coalition we also
understand that all this discrimination and lack of regard is nothing more than
a reflection of a social crisis of xenophobic prejudices.”
The
statement reminds Fernandez, “his government and the rest of the Dominican
people that here in the United States we ourselves experience exploitation with
every day that passes. This is why through our activism we combat the immorality
that dehumanizes us.”
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