Ex-Peace Corps volunteers unite for U.S. action on Dominican immigration policies
Haitians face deportation from Dominican Republic
(CNN)The U.S. State Department’s position toward controversial citizenship and immigration laws in the Dominican Republic is being challenged by an unusual source: Hundreds of former Peace Corps volunteers who served there.
Some 560 former Peace Corps volunteers and three former Peace Corps country directors who worked in the Dominican Republic are calling for the United States to suspend funding to Dominican security forces accused of committing human rights violations against Dominicans of Haitian descent.
The letter to Secretary of State John Kerry documents abuses committed by some Dominican forces related to the country’s revocation of citizenship of Dominicans born of undocumented immigrants, and a simultaneous crackdown on illegal immigration from Haiti.
«Given the Dominican government’s disregard for international law with respect to the status of its citizens of Haitian descent; the violent track record of Dominican security forces receiving funding and training from the United States; and the Dominican Armed Forces‘ readiness to execute a potentially massive campaign of rights-violating expulsions, we ask that the United States suspend its military aid to the Dominican government,» the letter states.
Haitians face deportation threats by Dominican Republic
The Dominican government has been under fire on two fronts involving Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian immigrants. A 2013 court case stripped the citizenship of tens of thousands of Dominicans who were born to undocumented Haitian parents, effectively rendering them stateless. At the same time, the Dominican government is cracking down on undocumented immigrants, the vast majority who came from Haiti.
Both of these issues have been addressed by new laws aimed to restore citizenship or register for legal residence. But critics say both laws are flawed and that only a fraction of those affected have been able to benefit from the proposed solutions.
A concern for international organizations is that a sudden influx of returnees to Haiti — either voluntary or through deportation — might overwhelm Haiti’s capacity to take them in.
A worst-case humanitarian crisis has not materialized, but the emergence of tent cities in southern Haiti indicate that a risk exists.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/10/politics/state-department-dominican-republic-haiti-crisis/