In mid-May, legislators in the Dominican Republic approved a bill to allow Dominican-born residents of Haitian descent a path to citizenship. The current bill comes after a controversial, retroactive ruling in 2013 that Dominican-born children of ‘irregular’ migrants, even those with documentation, would be stripped of their citizenship; yet the problem remains that nearly 7 percent of the Dominican population is of Haitian descent, and many of these individuals are native Spanish speakers who consider the Dominican Republic their home. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights criticized this ruling for leaving tens of thousands of people—disproportionately Haitian—stateless, a violation of human rights conventions.
Addressing the complex situation of Haitian immigrants and refugees in the Dominican Republic requires an analysis of the societal stigma that this migrant population faces and an understanding of the racial and national identities at play. Despite that the Dominican Republic is itself a majority-black country, those of Haitian descent are constructed as more black, a representation which carries pejorative associations. In fact, the development of an idea of a ‘Haitian terror’ is involved in the creation of a stronger Dominican national identity by means of excluding those of Haitian descent.
The current bill allowing re-nationalization for the children of immigrants to the Dominican Republic is a substantial and positive turn for the future of Haitian-Dominican relations. There is a clear need to balance internal, Dominican population interests versus those of a present, dispossessed population—except, residents of Haitian descent are also Dominicans themselves, working, studying, and participating in Dominican civil society. This conflict around identity and national origin points to a deeper divide in conceptions of belonging, foreignness, and race—and ultimately to an instability in Dominican national identity itself. Defining a Dominican identity all too often means a negative assertion, to be not Haitian.
In turn, this instability impacts the health of Haitian-descent communities and public health as a whole. In my experience working with a Dominican clinic serving low-income women and children in an urban neighborhood, Haitian communities are disproportionately susceptible to diseases and health issues associated with low socioeconomic status, and they are less likely to have access to the resources to address such problems. The stigma around HIV status is worsened by the association of Haitians with HIV/AIDS and the reality that HIV-positivity rates in Haiti are more than 2.5 times higher than the neighboring Dominican Republic.
The issue of nationality has led to concrete—and problematic—outcomes for diplomatic relations in the Caribbean. In 2013, both countries recalled their ambassadors after controversial dialogue regarding the citizenship ruling, and the diplomatic outcome of the revised bill, if passed, is yet to be seen. Public health is at risk in more ways than one, however, and positive relations between the countries will be required in coming months to stem the spread of Chikungunya Fever, of which there have been more than 250,000 suspected cases in the Caribbean and which continues to spread within and outside of the Caribbean. Joint efforts are needed to implement regional coordination of stemming a vector-borne disease such as Chikungunya.
Regional collaboration is always a vital factor in public health and controlling the spread of infectious disease, a principle that is true now more than ever in the Caribbean. In a country with tens of thousands of stateless individuals—a population that is rapidly growing—political development and progress in public health are stagnated. It is important to analyze and consider the impacts of Dominican state legislation, such as that concerning the citizenship of the Haitian population and concerns around national identity on public health issues, which affect not only the entire country’s population, but the region as well.
Eden Almasude is a medical student at the University of Minnesota. She has an MA in International Studies and has research interests in health and foreign policy in North Africa and Latin America.
Photo: Alex Proimos (cc).
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Stateless and At-Risk: Haitian-Dominican Relations and Public Health
August 29, 2014
In mid-May, legislators in the Dominican Republic approved a bill to allow Dominican-born residents of Haitian descent a path to citizenship. The current bill comes after a controversial, retroactive ruling in 2013 that Dominican-born children of ‘irregular’ migrants, even those with documentation, would be stripped of their citizenship; yet the problem remains that nearly 7 percent of the Dominican population is of Haitian descent, and many of these individuals are native Spanish speakers who consider the Dominican Republic their home. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights criticized this ruling for leaving tens of thousands of people—disproportionately Haitian—stateless, a violation of human rights conventions.
Addressing the complex situation of Haitian immigrants and refugees in the Dominican Republic requires an analysis of the societal stigma that this migrant population faces and an understanding of the racial and national identities at play. Despite that the Dominican Republic is itself a majority-black country, those of Haitian descent are constructed as more black, a representation which carries pejorative associations. In fact, the development of an idea of a ‘Haitian terror’ is involved in the creation of a stronger Dominican national identity by means of excluding those of Haitian descent.
The current bill allowing re-nationalization for the children of immigrants to the Dominican Republic is a substantial and positive turn for the future of Haitian-Dominican relations. There is a clear need to balance internal, Dominican population interests versus those of a present, dispossessed population—except, residents of Haitian descent are also Dominicans themselves, working, studying, and participating in Dominican civil society. This conflict around identity and national origin points to a deeper divide in conceptions of belonging, foreignness, and race—and ultimately to an instability in Dominican national identity itself. Defining a Dominican identity all too often means a negative assertion, to be not Haitian.
In turn, this instability impacts the health of Haitian-descent communities and public health as a whole. In my experience working with a Dominican clinic serving low-income women and children in an urban neighborhood, Haitian communities are disproportionately susceptible to diseases and health issues associated with low socioeconomic status, and they are less likely to have access to the resources to address such problems. The stigma around HIV status is worsened by the association of Haitians with HIV/AIDS and the reality that HIV-positivity rates in Haiti are more than 2.5 times higher than the neighboring Dominican Republic.
The issue of nationality has led to concrete—and problematic—outcomes for diplomatic relations in the Caribbean. In 2013, both countries recalled their ambassadors after controversial dialogue regarding the citizenship ruling, and the diplomatic outcome of the revised bill, if passed, is yet to be seen. Public health is at risk in more ways than one, however, and positive relations between the countries will be required in coming months to stem the spread of Chikungunya Fever, of which there have been more than 250,000 suspected cases in the Caribbean and which continues to spread within and outside of the Caribbean. Joint efforts are needed to implement regional coordination of stemming a vector-borne disease such as Chikungunya.
Regional collaboration is always a vital factor in public health and controlling the spread of infectious disease, a principle that is true now more than ever in the Caribbean. In a country with tens of thousands of stateless individuals—a population that is rapidly growing—political development and progress in public health are stagnated. It is important to analyze and consider the impacts of Dominican state legislation, such as that concerning the citizenship of the Haitian population and concerns around national identity on public health issues, which affect not only the entire country’s population, but the region as well.
Eden Almasude is a medical student at the University of Minnesota. She has an MA in International Studies and has research interests in health and foreign policy in North Africa and Latin America.
Photo: Alex Proimos (cc).
