Insular Migratory Dynamics in Times of COVID-19

On February 7, 2020, the project Trato Digno (EuropeAid/16923/DD/ACT/DO) was launched in Santo Domingo by the Centre for Sustainable Development (CEDESO) and the Centre for Migration Observation and Social Development in the Caribbean (OBMICA), in order to prevent arbitrary detention and/or deportation of immigrants and their descendants.

Trato Digno, with its goal of promoting the defense of the dignity and human rights of the immigrant population and their descendants in accordance with the National Human Rights Plan (PNDH 2018-2022) and the applicable international framework, is even more relevant in times of COVID-19. In this time of uncertainty, with emergency measures adopted by the government to prevent the spread of the virus, it is essential to promote, protect, and monitor respect for human rights by appealing to public opinion and rights guarantors, while strengthening the capacity for action of groups in greater vulnerability in the Dominican Republic.

The UN human rights systems Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts are calling on countries to respect the human rights of others and not take advantage of emergency measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic as a pretext for failing to comply with human rights. A new resolution of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 1/2020, Pandemic and Human Rights in the Americas, issued on April 10, makes the same call.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Despite the significant efforts of the National Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE), deportations by land have continued to rise, according to official figures totaling 166,750 events between mid-2015 and the end of 2018. In practice, what civil society organizations have observed is that there are ambiguities in current legislation regarding the detention/deportation of migrants and that the high volume of deportations makes it virtually impossible to comply with due process. The current Migration Law (2004) and its later regulations (2011) are weak in relation to due process, while the 1999 bilateral agreement with Haiti is more robust, but there is uncertainty regarding the status of that agreement.

In mid-2015, when deportations resumed after a moratorium to implement the PNRE, the General Directorate of Migration announced a new protocol for carrying out deportations, but it was never published. There are weaknesses in timely official contact with Haitian authorities on the part of Dominican authorities. From a gender-equality perspective, migrant mothers are at a disadvantage when men are deported because they must assume everything concerning the household without the support of their partner. Although, according to official figures, the percentage of deported women is much lower, civil society organizations report that migration agents do not necessarily take their specific biological needs into account in these processes.

EFFECTS OF COVID-19

For now, the Dominican government has understood the urgency of the situation and has taken the corresponding measure of stopping the detention and deportation of immigrants by land in order to mitigate the spread of the virus between the two countries of the island. With the relative slowdown in public administration, it is necessary to guarantee that people whose cases are in progress under the operation of the National Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners or Law 169-14 are not harmed.

STATES OF EXCEPTION

Paradoxically, Haiti experienced its first lockdown in the Americas before the arrival of COVID-19 and is one of the last countries in the hemisphere to be struck by the pandemic.

The lockdown, or peyi-lok of the last months of 2019, refers to the political, economic, and social protests that paralyzed Haiti, precipitated by anti-corruption scandals revealed in mid-2018. The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic was not closed, but schools were shut down and many businesses had to close their doors in Haiti.

Before detecting the first case of coronavirus in Haiti, President Jovenel Moise declared a closure of the land border, no doubt recalling the nine-year struggle to control the cholera outbreak of October 2010. The situation is challenging for Haiti in the face of the health crisis due to a lack of installed capacity in health services. Social distancing is a challenge in urban areas where overcrowding is the norm in popular neighborhoods and work is largely informal.

In the second half of March, President Danilo Medina introduced, manu militari, a state of exception, a curfew, and social-distancing measures. By then, the Dominican Republic already had a significant number of cases and a mortality rate notable relative to some other countries in the region. Health services are weak and social protection programs overlook a significant undocumented population, especially migrant workers and their descendants born in the country.

Four types of mobility at the island scale during the pandemic

The border is not entirely impermeable in this crisis, as explained below. In fact, the guidelines of the World Health Organization, Handbook for public health capacity-building at ground crossings and cross-border collaboration, March 2020, support the Dominican Republic and Haiti in keeping a certain degree of border openness, unlike some other borders in the region whose closure has had negative consequences for low-income migrants, especially for people who want to return home.

As the pandemic develops in Hispaniola, four types of cross-border movement by Haitians can be observed.

1. The scenario that drew the most attention was the exodus through the northern border of around 1,000 Haitians in a single weekend, March 21 and 22, in what some have evocatively called panic mobility. Poor coordination between border authorities and limited capacity on the Haitian side meant that COVID-19 testing was scarce for those returning spontaneously.

2. Secondly, and simultaneously, by virtue of the official border closure, Haitians seeking work in the interior of the Dominican Republic are devising new, informal, and potentially dangerous routes to cross by evading authorities or passing through thanks to bribery.

3. Thirdly, where control is effectively exercised, these migrants may be immediately returned through so-called non-admissions.

4. A fourth type of movement is that of border residents who, despite the closed border and the suspension of the twice-weekly border markets, continue crossing on foot around the four official crossing points. These people may also be returned arbitrarily, since the legislation authorizing their passage, contained in the 2004 Migration Law, has not been implemented to regulate this long-standing pendular migration.

Regional and international panorama

New jurisprudence in some countries of the region is guaranteeing the right of migrants to cross borders during the pandemic in order to return home, meaning their countries of origin. Even a modest flow of Venezuelans located in other countries of the region are attempting to return to Venezuela, regardless of the long and arduous journey this may involve.

The Dominican Republic has facilitated the return of Haitians to their country by land, as well as the return of its own nationals from territories such as Curacao and Aruba in the insular Caribbean.

Access to social protection plans is a thorny issue when it comes to migrants and their family members who, in normal times, may not be covered by this kind of assistance. Times of crisis may increase their vulnerability. There are countries such as Portugal that have introduced good practices by confirming regular status for migrants whose cases are in process, thereby facilitating their inclusion in official responses to the pandemic.

Finally, essential migrant workers in many countries, including those who work in agricultural tasks, may be particularly exposed to contracting the coronavirus if rigorous and appropriately scaled measures are not implemented both in the fields of work and in their communities. Dominican civil society organizations are monitoring this labor context in sectors where many Haitian migrants work in the country, such as sugarcane fields and banana bateyes.