Dominican Republic & Haiti

What are the issues?

An estimated 1 million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic (DR). Most of them are undocumented immigrants working in agriculture and construction.

Without documentation, people of Haitian descent – including people who were born and have lived all their lives in the Dominican Republic (DR) – have no rights. They cannot use health and education services, they have no legal protection and when they are 18, they cannot vote.

People of Haitian descent play a key role in the Dominican economy, yet face considerable discrimination and prejudice. The two nations share an island and face similar issues, such as environmental degradation and water scarcity. Improved bi-national cooperation will help both nations tackle these problems, and lead to improvements in the lives of many poor Haitian and Dominican people.

What are we doing?

We believe that strong bi-national relations between the two countries will encourage economic development, protect the natural environment, and help uphold the rights of Haitian migrants and people of Haitian descent living in the DR. We are therefore supporting bi-national initiatives, particularly in the border area.

We are also supporting local and international efforts to persuade the Dominican government to introduce robust and transparent procedures for people of Haitian descent to acquire Dominican nationality.

Read our 2008 policy statement Hope for co-existence: Advocating for better human rights for Dominican-Haitians and Haitians living in the Dominican Republic (1.54MB PDF)

Read our Joint Parliamentary Briefing "Building Back Better" - January 2011

What have we achieved so far?

For several years we have provided international support to a group of civil society organisations in the DR lobbying for changes to the nationality rules. In 2009, a new DR Constitution included the principles of jus soli (literally ‘the right of soil’ – roughly, it means the right to nationality or citizenship for anyone born in a territory) and jus sanguini (literally ‘the right of blood’ – roughly, it means the right to nationality or citizenship for anyone whose parent is a national or citizen of a territory) for the acquisition of Dominican nationality.

What challenges remain?

We continue to support partner organisations in the DR working to ensure that the nationality rules in the new constitution are properly implemented, and that the registration process is not used as a back-door method of repatriating undocumented Haitians living in the DR.

We will continue to push for improved bi-national relations so that the two nations can work together to promote development. We noticed a big step forward in bi-national relations in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010, with the DR playing a key role in helping to get humanitarian aid to Haiti. The role played by Dominican civil society organisations in the humanitarian aid effort also reflects growing solidarity and co-operation between civil society organisations in the two countries.

We will also be working to ensure that the EU and the UK support the Haitian people’s efforts to rebuild their country in the wake of the earthquake.