News Information

• NEWS_POSTED_BY: Haiti Place
• NEWS_POSTED_ON: Jul 26, 2015
• Views : 558
• Likes : 1
• Category : General News
• Description : Dominican residents not born in the country asked to show proof that they have right to stay
  By Yasmine Mathurin, CBC News Posted: Jun 18, 2015 4:17 PM ET Last Updated: Jun 18, 2015 4:17 PM ET
  
  Photo: Haitian Jaquenol Martinez shows a card that proves that he has worked in the Dominican sugar cane fields since 1963, while trying to apply for a temporary resident permit, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Monday. Hundreds of Haitians are waiting in long lines trying to secure legal residency as they face the threat of deportation. (Ezequiel Abiu Lopez/Associated Press)
• Website : http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/petition-calls-for-u-s-to-intervene-in-deportation-of-haitian-born-dominicans-1.3117958

Overview

• An online petition is putting pressure on the U.S. government to use its influence to stop the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants and citizens of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic.
  
  The petition is calling on the White House to pressure the Dominican Republic government to stop its planned deportation of Haitian-born Dominicans.
  
  The deportation plan was undertaken by the Dominican Republic's National Immigration Council in part as an attempt to regulate the influx of migrants from neighbouring Haiti. The two countries occupy opposite ends of the island formerly known as Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea.
  
  Out of the estimated 500,000 non-citizens living in the Dominican Republic, only half of them have registered, but officials say that only about 10,000 have provided sufficient documentation. So far just 300 people have been issued new registration identification.
  
  Arian Terrill, a humanitarian aid worker and border conflict consultant working in the Dominican Republic explained that there are a number of issues that have hindered the registration process, including cost and administrative delays.
  
  "It's an enormous financial burden for a lot of people who are already in fragile economic situation," said Terrill. The cost can sometimes amount to four to five days' worth of income. Some people have "to make a choice between filing for registration or feeding their families or going to the doctors," said Terrill.
  
  Terrill said that in addition to long waiting times, the registration centers are often "understaffed and under capacity."
  
  Read more here >>