Something has to be said.
Dominican Republic is not a racist country and there is no systematic violence against black people or Haitians or Dominicans of Haitian ascendance. Take this from someone who has observed this process closely, who has disagreed with many decisions of Dominican authorities, but who is also not willing to lie in favor of her expressed positions.
If you have said that Dominican Republic is a racist, xenophobe, systematically violent country against the aforementioned groups, you are either mistaken or lying.
Let’s stick to the facts:
Ruling 168-13 has been highly questioned due to its consequences on the right to citizenship. In short, many have argued that the ruling has retroactive effects and is therefore unfair. The defenders of this idea state that it is not until 2010 that restrictions on ‘jus solis’ (right to citizenship by place of birth) have been imposed, and that the Constitutional Court has ruled that these norms be aplicable to all who have been born on or after 1929, presumably causing that many who have the right to Dominican citizenship, would not have access to it.
On the other hand, those in favor of the ruling have indicated that citizenship regulation has been present since immigration laws were enacted in 1929. Hence, the ruling is not solely legal, but the only viable decision in accordance with the Law.
As to this matter, this is it. Period.
Chapter Number 2: Dominican Government starts a “Regularization Plan”
So, after the ruling, the Dominican Government started a Regularization Plan, (adopting the less severe of all possible measures that would result in accordance to the constitutional interpretation), which basically means that everyone who thought or felt he or she had been left out due to the ruling, and was now facing the possibility of repatriation, could now present him or herself, with the proper documentation at hand, to national authorities without any fear of repatriation, and apply for citizenship, when applicable, or for what would be an equivalent of a “green card”. Meanwhile, all repatriations were officially suspended in order to grant immigrants a period of tranquility that would allow them to work their way through the process without too much to worry about. Thousands of people attended and they have now regularized their status.
Some others did not attend and, in order to help them through this process, the Dominican Government generously extended the official deadline so that everyone who had not attended the process could do so. However, even that generous extension has now arrived to its final deadline.
Note: My mother is white, of Lebanese ascendance, born in DR after 1929, and has had to deal with some of the norms that apply to everyone with her reality. This has also happened to American friends and friends of friends in similar situations. It has nothing to do with race or country of origin. These are just DR's autonomous rules. (Thanks
Alicia Butler for the reminder!)
Chapter Number 3: (After a Regularization Plan, The Official Suspension of All repatriations, and A Generous Extension of The Deadlines) Pacific and Regular Immigrant Control Processes Are In Order
Anyone would expect that after all of the above mentioned, the Government of the Dominican Republic would, at some point, start executing the policies that any and all countries apply on immigration-related affairs. Right?
Well, apparently and for some strange reason, that is not what everyone was expecting, but that is exactly what the Dominican Republic has rightfully started doing, humanly, patiently, and peacefully. However, thousands of people, most of them living in other countries and therefore just repeating each other without seeing anything with their own eyes, have denounced that there is a systematically violent approach to the problem, that the rights of people of color and Haitians have been severely affected through acts of violence and discrimination.
This is not true. Please note that there is not one single piece of real evidence that would indicate this.
Scenes from movies have been taken out of context and have been pointed out as real events of tragic violence in Dominican Republic against Haitian families (see picture below), pictures from other countries and other circumstances have been used as “proof” of the discrimination against black people in DR, while white, black, asian, arab… people live peacefully, all together, in every corner of this country. It is a lie, folks, a lucrative lie, that favors powerful interest groups.
I am writing from Santo Domingo; I have family members living in the eastern (Higuey) and central (Ocoa) parts of the island and some others on the western provinces (Barahona) of the country, near the border with Haiti. Please listen to me when I say: There is no chaos in Dominican Republic, nor violence against immigrants. While some have been peacefully repatriated, many have even returned voluntarily, and those who have needed help have been aided by the government in order to make their journey possible, while granting them the opportunity of not facing any sanctions due to illegal immigration, offering them an unprecedented clean slate (see
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2015/06/23/migracion-dice-mas-12-mil-personas-han-retornado-voluntariamente).
PLUS -LAST MINUTE UPDATE-: The administrative process of repatriation is subject to judicial control, which means that judges and courts could evaluate if each deportation was necessary and if it was completed in the correct manner. (Thanks
Amaury Reyes for the reminder!)
After the social media came along, we, ordinary people, have been given the opportunity to speak louder and to a larger number of people than ever before. But “with great power, comes great responsibility”. We should always remember that we can be manipulated into communicating lies and have the moral obligation of answering to those intents with honorable doses of courageous truth.
Dominican Republic is a peaceful, beautiful, melting pot; it is a poor country that is finding its way through its social realities and challenges with both a human approach and an orderly point of view. Let us not hurt it unfairly.
(NOTE: IF YOU WILL BE SHARING THIS POST, PLEASE WRITE SOMETHING INDICATING THAT THE PICTURE DOES NOT PORTRAY WHAT IS GOING ON AND HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM A MOVIE SCENE, AND THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR CONTACTS READING ITS CAPTION. DUE TO THE SHARING FORMAT ON FACEBOOK, THE PICTURE WILL HAVE MORE PROMINENCE THAN THE TEXT IF YOU DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING ON IT, MAINLY COMMUNICATING EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN HERE.)
Disponible en español en:
http://thesocialsciencepost.com/es/...inicana-es-un-pais-racista-pues-le-mintieron/
Available in English at:
http://thesocialsciencepost.com/en/...can-republic-is-racist-you-have-been-lied-to/
theres more haitians in the us than dr and there have been policy changes to help make the immigration process more fair to haitians