NewsWhore
05-16-2011, 03:40 PM
In an article in Saturday's Diario Libre, historian Frank Moya Pons describes the scale of Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic following the relaxation of government migration controls in response to international pressures. He comments that in 1983 an estimated 27,000 Haitians were living legally in the country. In 1998, the Haitian population was still estimated at 100,000. By 2004, two British researchers estimated the immigrant population at 380,000. Today, observers say Haitian population in the DR totals more than one million.
The key settlements from which Haitians make the crossing are Ouanaminthe, Tiroli, Hincha, Mirebalais, Malpasse and Anse-a-Pitre. Most may start out in farm jobs, but he says most find ways to continue to the east of the island and end up settling in the main cities where they find work as builders, street vendors, housekeepers and watchmen. Some are employed in coffee plantations, and others in hotels.
"Most of the Haitian residents in the country have entered illegally and remain that way because the Dominican authorities have been incapable of controlling the border when they have chosen to do so, or have abandoned the struggle to control the flow of illegal immigrants," writes Moya Pons.
He says that there is a network of people smugglers on the border that involves civil authorities and military and local politicians, all profiting from smuggling people. He comments that many Catholic priests, for humanitarian and other reasons, contribute to encouraging migration by providing protection to Haitians who cross the border.
He writes that farmers also facilitate migration by helping Haitians in exchange for cheap labor that involves burning forests, clearing farmland and harvesting crops. "Areas like Rio Limpio, Los Bolos, Los Pinos, Tierra Nueva, Polo, Maniel Viejo, Loma de Cabrera and others in Bahoruco are in a continuous process of deforestation, turning these lands into desert, as has already happened on Haitian side of the island," writes Moya Pons.
He comments that the rate of illegal Haitian migration has been accelerating since 1998. He says that Fernandez deported illegal immigrants during his first term of office, but stopped this practice in response to protests from national and international human rights organizations and some members of the Catholic clergy working on the border.
"Soon it was clear that the Dominican government would not deport illegal Haitians and the flow picked up pace," he writes.
In 2000, during the Hipolito Mejia government, a mass investment program in the border area, with the opening of roads, construction of rural clinics, aqueducts and schools, installation of electricity grids served to attract even more impoverished Haitian peasants. Migration controls were relaxed further because the authorities wanted to avoid being accused of violating the human rights of Haitians. "The people smuggling networks continued to develop."
Moya writes that the Mejia government opened schools and hospitals to all Haitians who needed these services and granted them an ID document that the Haitians saw as proof that their status had been legalized."
He says that the second Fernandez government (2004-2010) has maintained the same tolerance policy and the rate of migration has increased as a result.
He mentions that middle and upper class families have also migrated to the DR to take advantage of the social education and hospital services that are not available in their country, in a similar way to the Dominicans who have migrated to the United States.
"Public health spokespersons frequently warn that in many hospitals most of the women giving birth are Haitians. Schools and universities have a growing population of Haitian students who live alongside Dominicans. In Constanza, half of the farm workers are Haitians, same as in Barahona at the coffee plantations, in the cassava and tobacco fields of Cibao, in the rice paddies of Bajo Yuna and in the cattle ranches of the east.
He comments that some farmers and economists say they depend on Haitian labor, while others say it depresses wages and affects Dominican workers. "Others say in the medium term the Dominican Republic will lose the fight against poverty because it is constantly importing growing numbers of poor people while the productive base and social services are not increasing at the same pace as the immigrant population".
He comments that the 2010 earthquake stimulated even more migration. "That catastrophe opened a new chapter in Dominican-Haitian relationships and the government contributed massive aid. "The earthquake stimulated even more migration and the process is more intense than before. What the consequences of this process will be still remains to be seen."
www.diariolibre.com/noticias_det.php?id=290423 (http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias_det.php?id=290423)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
The key settlements from which Haitians make the crossing are Ouanaminthe, Tiroli, Hincha, Mirebalais, Malpasse and Anse-a-Pitre. Most may start out in farm jobs, but he says most find ways to continue to the east of the island and end up settling in the main cities where they find work as builders, street vendors, housekeepers and watchmen. Some are employed in coffee plantations, and others in hotels.
"Most of the Haitian residents in the country have entered illegally and remain that way because the Dominican authorities have been incapable of controlling the border when they have chosen to do so, or have abandoned the struggle to control the flow of illegal immigrants," writes Moya Pons.
He says that there is a network of people smugglers on the border that involves civil authorities and military and local politicians, all profiting from smuggling people. He comments that many Catholic priests, for humanitarian and other reasons, contribute to encouraging migration by providing protection to Haitians who cross the border.
He writes that farmers also facilitate migration by helping Haitians in exchange for cheap labor that involves burning forests, clearing farmland and harvesting crops. "Areas like Rio Limpio, Los Bolos, Los Pinos, Tierra Nueva, Polo, Maniel Viejo, Loma de Cabrera and others in Bahoruco are in a continuous process of deforestation, turning these lands into desert, as has already happened on Haitian side of the island," writes Moya Pons.
He comments that the rate of illegal Haitian migration has been accelerating since 1998. He says that Fernandez deported illegal immigrants during his first term of office, but stopped this practice in response to protests from national and international human rights organizations and some members of the Catholic clergy working on the border.
"Soon it was clear that the Dominican government would not deport illegal Haitians and the flow picked up pace," he writes.
In 2000, during the Hipolito Mejia government, a mass investment program in the border area, with the opening of roads, construction of rural clinics, aqueducts and schools, installation of electricity grids served to attract even more impoverished Haitian peasants. Migration controls were relaxed further because the authorities wanted to avoid being accused of violating the human rights of Haitians. "The people smuggling networks continued to develop."
Moya writes that the Mejia government opened schools and hospitals to all Haitians who needed these services and granted them an ID document that the Haitians saw as proof that their status had been legalized."
He says that the second Fernandez government (2004-2010) has maintained the same tolerance policy and the rate of migration has increased as a result.
He mentions that middle and upper class families have also migrated to the DR to take advantage of the social education and hospital services that are not available in their country, in a similar way to the Dominicans who have migrated to the United States.
"Public health spokespersons frequently warn that in many hospitals most of the women giving birth are Haitians. Schools and universities have a growing population of Haitian students who live alongside Dominicans. In Constanza, half of the farm workers are Haitians, same as in Barahona at the coffee plantations, in the cassava and tobacco fields of Cibao, in the rice paddies of Bajo Yuna and in the cattle ranches of the east.
He comments that some farmers and economists say they depend on Haitian labor, while others say it depresses wages and affects Dominican workers. "Others say in the medium term the Dominican Republic will lose the fight against poverty because it is constantly importing growing numbers of poor people while the productive base and social services are not increasing at the same pace as the immigrant population".
He comments that the 2010 earthquake stimulated even more migration. "That catastrophe opened a new chapter in Dominican-Haitian relationships and the government contributed massive aid. "The earthquake stimulated even more migration and the process is more intense than before. What the consequences of this process will be still remains to be seen."
www.diariolibre.com/noticias_det.php?id=290423 (http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias_det.php?id=290423)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)