Dominican-Haitians protesting court’s decision to revoke the citizenship of thousands. Photo Credit: Huffington Post
Due to a recent Dominican Republic (DR) court ruling, over 200,000 Dominican citizens are in danger of becoming stateless. According to the court, all individuals of ‘migrant background’ born in the DR since 1929 will have their citizenship questioned and possibly revoked.
The controversial verdict stands to severely affect the descendants of Haitian immigrants residing in the country. “We really don’t know what’s going to happen to those people… these people are not Dominican citizens and will have to leave and effectively go to Haiti, where they are also not citizens. It creates an extremely complicated situation,” states Wade McMullen, an attorney at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights. It is a tragic case of a people without a home—individuals that are treated as outsiders despite being born and raised in the Dominican Republic.
This is not the first time Haitians have been unwanted in the country. One of the most infamous historical examples of the mistreatment of Haitians under Dominican rule occurred in 1937, when Dominican President Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, ordered the execution of over 20,000 Haitians residing in the country. The overwhelming majority of the slain Haitians were Dominican citizens.
The Parsley Massacre, known as El Corte (the cutting) to Dominicans and Kouto-a (the knife) to Haitians, was carried out by Trujillo in an attempt to “whiten” the Dominican race. He promoted the concept of la Hispanidad (Hispanic Culture) in his homeland in order to separate Dominicans from their Afrikan roots; furthermore, he circulated anti-Haitian propaganda in order to distinguish his countrymen from the “Black” people on the other side of the island.
His propaganda has had a lasting effect on the culture and mindset of the Dominican Republic. Nearly eighty years later, Haitians living in the country have fewer opportunities and face widespread discrimination. Many believe that the fervent racial tension between Haitians and Dominicans led to the court’s decision; furthermore, some fear that the verdict will lead to further prejudice against Dominicans of Haitian descent.
According to the Associate Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Berkeley School of Law Roxanna Altholz, “The Dominican Republic has very deep roots of violent racism against Dominican-Haitians and Haitians. Are they going to do summary expulsions? Is the Dominican Republic going to conduct raids? I don’t know how they’re going to implement this decision,” she said.
Fortunately, the implementation may not have the chance to occur. People around the world are showing their support for the Dominican-Haitian citizens. International human rights advocates plan to take the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body that seeks to protect the rights of individuals residing in the Americas. Widespread demonstrations have taken place in New York City, with Dominican and Haitian immigrants united against the decision.
One Latina American took to the web in order to protest the injustice occurring in the Caribbean country; her bid, which urges Dominican President Danilo Medina to revoke the court’s controversial verdict, has already garnered nearly 1,000 signatures. To support the petition, click here.
Author: Sharila Stewart
Nommo Staff