Meet Sister Maria Eugenia Vazquez

Maria Eugenia Vazquez, born in Jujuy, Argentina, is a religious sister belonging to the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo Scalabrinians, carrying out her mission alongside the most vulnerable migrants and their descendants in the Dominican Republic since 2016. She supports the implementation of the programs carried out by the Association of Scalabrinians at the Service of Human Mobility, ASCALA.

ASCALA is a non-governmental organization committed to the promotion and defense of human rights, empowerment, and community and social development. Founded on October 1, 2004, and based in the municipality of Consuelo, it belongs to the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo Scalabrinians and is recognized as an institution devoted to the defense of human rights with dedication and reliability, generating social impact. It operates in the bateyes of the eastern region and along the northern border of the Dominican Republic, promoting actions aimed at improving the living conditions of migrants and their descendants. It is also part of the regional CLAMOR network, the Latin American and Caribbean Ecclesial Network on Migration, Displacement, Refuge, and Trafficking in Persons.

Can you tell us about a project you are currently working on or have worked on recently?

Through the Scalabrinian mission in the Dominican Republic, it became possible to learn about and accompany the naturalization processes of descendants of Haitian migrants born in the country and affected by Constitutional Court Judgment 168-13. Through ASCALA's legal axis, efforts were made, in full compliance with all the requirements of Law 169-14, to support people in their naturalization process. Unfortunately, ten years after the judgment, the country still has not resolved this problem, which affects individuals, families, and Dominican society as a whole. This situation worsens because it is transmitted from one generation to the next.

Through a team of lawyers, the project seeks to follow up on and respond to late declarations. The lack of responses is an obstacle to the exercise of rights and has a major impact on people's lives. The accompaniment provided in this process is slow, requires considerable effort, and demands intervention and legal-action strategies that families cannot undertake when they do not have formal employment.

The approach is multidimensional and provides accompaniment to the entire family.

1. What was the most interesting thing about that project and how does it apply to your professional practice?

The most important aspect of the project is its comprehensive approach, which seeks to ensure that the laws are actually applied. The issue of statelessness, or of people at risk of statelessness in the Dominican Republic, contributes greatly to knowledge on the subject.

1. Can you tell us about your experience in partnership with OBMICA?

With OBMICA it became possible to work on and share the challenges faced by descendants whose rights have been violated through the Dominican@s for Rights Platform. Since 2023, ASCALA has also been part of the consortium led by OBMICA for the MIGRASALUD project: Protecting the right to health from the local to the national level. This action seeks to promote the rule of law and compliance with human rights in the Dominican Republic by increasing nondiscriminatory inclusion within the Dominican health system of migrants and their relatives rooted in the country who live in vulnerable situations. The objective is to guarantee the right to health for these people in strategic zones through community-led monitoring, the production and mobilization of new knowledge, capacity strengthening, communications, and advocacy.