NewsWhore
05-24-2007, 04:11 PM
The Organization of American States (OAS) new country representative Paul Duran said that the organization has no evidence that the authorities mistreat or abuse undocumented Haitians who travel and work in the Dominican Republic. Duran affirmed that the issue of Haitian migration is an internal issue for the Dominican government and that the OAS is willing to support any initiative by the government. Duran said that he knows that many Haitians work in different sectors of the Dominican economy, but that he personally has no knowledge of any abuse. Haitians have displaced Dominicans as street fruit vendors, construction workers, apartment concierge and watchmen, beggars, gardeners and increasingly are employed as resort workers.
The statements by Duran come as a media firestorm surrounding what is being described as an anti-Dominican international publicity campaign dies down. Last week a documentary film released in France, Slaves in Paradise, depicted the life of Haitian laborers in the DR and made claims of slavery and mistreatment. The documentary sparked rage among many Dominicans, both in the DR and abroad, and was labeled as a manipulated attack against the DR and its sugar industry.
In Paris, the charge d'affairs of Haiti before the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Madame Marie Denise Jean denied that there is slavery in the bateyes where Haitians that work in the sugar fields live, as reported in El Nacional. She spoke during a round table held at the French Parliament on "The Two Sides of Globalization: The Case of the Dominican Republic. At the event, 80 participants discussed the socioeconomic reality of the DR and the relations with Haiti. The comments came shortly after Catholic priests Ruquoy and Hartley spearheaded the presentation of a documentary on supposed slavery of the Haitians in the DR.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
The statements by Duran come as a media firestorm surrounding what is being described as an anti-Dominican international publicity campaign dies down. Last week a documentary film released in France, Slaves in Paradise, depicted the life of Haitian laborers in the DR and made claims of slavery and mistreatment. The documentary sparked rage among many Dominicans, both in the DR and abroad, and was labeled as a manipulated attack against the DR and its sugar industry.
In Paris, the charge d'affairs of Haiti before the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Madame Marie Denise Jean denied that there is slavery in the bateyes where Haitians that work in the sugar fields live, as reported in El Nacional. She spoke during a round table held at the French Parliament on "The Two Sides of Globalization: The Case of the Dominican Republic. At the event, 80 participants discussed the socioeconomic reality of the DR and the relations with Haiti. The comments came shortly after Catholic priests Ruquoy and Hartley spearheaded the presentation of a documentary on supposed slavery of the Haitians in the DR.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)