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Dominican Republic - Haiti Relations

Haiti did not formally recognize the independence of the Dominican Republic until 1874. In 1697, under the Treaty of Ryswick, Spain ceded the western third of the island to France. From the beginning of the 18th century the boundary between the French and Spanish colonies of Santo Domingo had been a source of constant friction and bickerings. A preliminary agreement had been made in 1730, but in 1776 a permanent treaty was drafted, it was ratified at Aranjuez in 1777, and the boundary was marked with stone monuments. In 1795, when by the treaty of Basle peace was declared between France and Spain, the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo was — to the dismay of its inhabitants — ceded to France, the whole island thus passing under French control. The exact boundary of this territory (Saint-Domingue — modern Haiti) was not established at the time of cession and remained in question until 1929.

The twenty-two years of Haitian rule marked a period of social and economic retrogression for the old Spanish portion of the island. Most of the whites, especially the more prominent families, the principal representatives of the community's wealth and culture, definitely abandoned the country, some immediately upon the advent of the Haitians, others in 1824, when a hopeless conspiracy in favor of a restoration of Spanish rule was quenched in blood, and others in 1830, when a quixotic demand of the Spanish king for a return of his domain was refused by Boyer.

The Haitians, anxious to eliminate the whites, encouraged such emigration and confiscated the property left by the emigrants. The policy of the Haitian government was to build up a strong African state in the whole island, and in pursuance of this policy it emancipated all slaves, colonized Haitians on the Samana peninsula and in other parts of the Spanish-speaking territory and brought in colored people from the United States.

Two centuries later, one of the most challenging relationships has been with Haiti. Although in general the Dominican Republic sought to improve relations with Haiti, it also responded to domestic fears and pressures revolving around the growing presence of Haitian migrants in the country. As Haiti's economic situation continued to deteriorate and Haitians found it increasingly difficult to migrate to the United States, they increasingly entered the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic has a population of approximately 9.7 million, plus an estimated 900,000 to 1.2 million undocumented immigrants, mostly Haitians or their descendants. Large-scale deportations of Haitians during 1998 and 1999 met with protests; many deportees complained that they were not allowed to demonstrate that they were legally resident in the Dominican Republic and criticized their treatment while being transported out of the country.

Prior to 2010, the constitution bestowed citizenship upon anyone born in the country except children born to diplomats and children born to parents who are “in transit.” The 2010 constitution added an additional exception for children born in the country to parents without migratory status. In 2013 the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that children born in the country to foreigners “in transit” were not Dominican citizens. In effect the ruling retroactively revised the country’s citizenship transmission laws and stripped citizenship from approximately 135,000 persons, mostly the children of undocumented Haitian migrants, who had conferred citizenship by virtue of jus soli since 1929.

In 2014 the government promulgated a National Regularization Plan that enabled undocumented migrants in the country to apply for temporary legal residency. In January 2014 the government discontinued all deportations to give irregular migrants a chance to participate in this plan. The plan’s application period closed in June 2015, and in August 2015 the government resumed deportations. In July the government extended the expiration date of the temporary resident cards issued under the plan.

The National Regularization Plan granted temporary residency status to approximately 250,000 irregular migrants (98 percent Haitian). According to census data, up to 280,000 Haitian migrants may not have applied or qualified for regularization and were subject to deportation. UN officials accompanied immigration authorities during interception procedures conducted in different provinces. According to the United Nations, the deportation procedures it observed were orderly, legal, and individualized, in compliance with applicable international human rights standards.

The government invited the international community to observe and comment on deportations. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that, as of September, the military patrolled the border and removed interdicted persons without individualized screening procedures, thus putting at risk other protected undocumented populations, including regularization plan beneficiaries, and undocumented Dominicans. In August the IOM counted 13 individuals with legal residency status who were detained pending removal and should have been protected from deportation. The IOM assisted these individuals to avoid deportation. The IOM also reported cases of individuals deported because authorities did not permit them to retrieve immigration or citizenship documents from their residences as well as deportations of women who left children behind in their residences.

In May 2014 President Medina signed and promulgated law 169-14, “the Special Status of Individuals born in the territory with an irregular registration in the Civil Registry and on Naturalization.” Law 169-14 proposes to regularize and (re)issue identity documents to individuals born in the country between June 16, 1929, and April 18, 2007, to undocumented migrant parents, who were previously registered in the civil registry (Group A), recognizing them as Dominican citizens from birth. Based on an audit of the national civil registry archives, that population was estimated to total 60,000. The law also creates a special path to citizenship for persons born to undocumented migrant parents who never registered in the civil registry, including an estimated 45,000-75,000 undocumented persons, predominantly of Haitian descent (Group B). Group B individuals may apply for legal residency under this law and apply for naturalized citizenship after two years.