A Call to Action

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is advocating for the following policy changes:

1. The Dominican Republic should build an effective asylum system and issue permanent documents to asylum seekers with the full support of the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR).
2. The Dominican government should abide by the Dominican Constitution, which guarantees full citizenship rights to any person born within the Dominican Republic, and end the practice of denying citizenship to the Dominican-born children of Haitian asylum seekers. Furthermore, the Dominican Republic should ensure that all children born within its borders have equal access to education, healthcare, and other constitutional guaranteed rights.
3. The Dominican Republic should end the practice of massive expulsions of Haitian people and make an effort to investigate all potential deportees for asylum or refugee eligibility or for right to Dominican citizenship.
4. The UNHCR should reestablish offices in the Dominican Republic and Haiti to work on behalf of refugees and stateless persons and provide daily guidance to the Dominican state on how to carry-out effective and humane policies to protect refugees and stateless persons.
5. The United States should recognize the vulnerability of Haitian refugees and explore permanent solutions for this population, particularly for the Haitian refugee women who have been seeking asylum status in the Dominican Republic for over a decade.

 

No Refuge: Haitian Refugee Women in the Dominican Republic