OBMICA, ISI, and DXD Present a Study on COVID-19 Impacts on the Haitian Population and Their Descendants in the Dominican Republic
The Migration Observatory and Social Development in the Caribbean (OBMICA) presented last Friday, June 18, the study COVID-19 Impacts on the Haitian Population and Their Descendants in the southern area of the Dominican Republic, in a webinar coordinated by the Dominican@s por Derecho Platform with the collaboration of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI).
The Migration Observatory and Social Development in the Caribbean (OBMICA) presented last Friday, June 18, the study COVID-19 Impacts on the Haitian Population and Their Descendants in the Southern Area of the Dominican Republic, in a webinar coordinated by the Dominican@s por Derecho Platform with the collaboration of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI).
The report is based on the voices of migrants and their descendants, who describe the impacts of the pandemic in their communities. It shows the link between international migration, statelessness, and other global challenges, including the fair and necessary public-health approach of protecting and vaccinating everyone in pandemic times.
Bridget Wooding, OBMICA's director, and associated researcher Allison Petrozziello, co-authors of the study COVID-19 Impacts on the Haitian Population and Their Descendants in the Southern Area of the Dominican Republic, presented the findings of the research carried out in the south of the Dominican Republic, specifically in the Enriquillo Region, with the support of the Centro de Desarrollo Sostenible (CEDESO).
The opening remarks of the event were delivered by Laura Van Waas, co-director of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI), who provided an overview of the issue at the international level, commenting on joint efforts to promote the inclusion of stateless persons in COVID-19 control plans through a consortium of organizations of which the Dominican@s por Derecho Platform is part.
The launch event included testimonies from DXD organizations that accompany migrants and their Dominican relatives on the ground. Dr. Joseph Cherubin, president of the Movimiento sociocultural para los trabajadores Haitianos (MOSCTHA), spoke about the challenges of the health system and civil society mobilization in the country.
In this section, Franklyn Dinol, leader of Movimiento Reconoci.do, offered the perspective of youth: documentation, access to and exclusion from social-assistance programs, employment, and schooling in the COVID-19 context; while Michael Abreu, legal technician of the Asociacion Ascalabriniana al Servicio de la Movilidad Humana (ASCALA), referred to difficulties in access to documentation in the context of the health emergency, with a focus on under-registered or unregistered groups, and also addressed the case of older adults, especially former workers in the sugar sector who are pensioned or awaiting a pension.
Continuing with the testimonial segment, Sirana Dolis, director of the Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico Haitianas (MUDHA), focused on the gender perspective, the situation of women and girls in the COVID-19 context, and put on the table increased violence and the economic and logistical burden borne by female heads of household caring for school-age children, older adults, and sick relatives. Finally, Mayelin Abreu, of UNHCR Dominican Republic, explained the efforts that UN agencies have been developing locally to integrate migrants into humanitarian-assistance and vaccination plans.
"COVID-19 Impacts on the Haitian Population and Their Descendants in the Dominican Republic" is available for online reading or free download in two versions, a combined or back-to-back English-Spanish format and a French edition. Please consult the download links below.
The recording of the webinar is available on OBMICA's YouTube channel for consultation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7DPyzf7eQc&ab_channel=Centrodeinvestigaci%C3%B3nOBMICA
The proceedings of the event will be published on the Dominican@s por Derecho website https://dominicanosxderecho.wordpress.com/ and later in the special bulletin on the COVID-19 context that the collective will release.
Dominican@s por Derecho is a platform of civil society organizations whose leadership adds up to more than 30 years of social service and support for batey populations, working for access to civil registration free from discrimination in the Dominican Republic. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) is the first nongovernmental organization dedicated to promoting the right to a nationality and the rights of stateless persons worldwide. During 2020 and 2021, ISI launched an international consortium of civil society organizations to combat coronavirus and include stateless persons in these efforts, thanks to which it maintains close collaboration with the Dominican@s por Derecho Platform.
DOWNLOAD HERE