The Rise of Boat People, Yola Migrants, and Rafters in the Caribbean

Those who leave in fragile boats from the Dominican Republic are known as yoleros, from Haiti they are called "boat people," and from Cuba they are balseros, but their purpose is the same: to seek a better life in the Global North. "Boat people" is an English expression dating back to 1975, referring to people fleeing Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) by boat toward Europe and the United States.

Today it is used to refer to the sea crossings of Haitian people leaving Haiti to reach the United States. The term became popular through a song by the Haitian group Ram during Haiti's first exile of President Aristide (1991-1994), stating: "50,000 people took the leaky boats out to the sea."

Why does history repeat itself?

Today, because of the generalized crisis in their country, Haitian people are leaving by sea and dying in the process of seeking protection from their northern neighbors. In May, nine women and two teenage girls drowned when the fragile boat in which they were traveling capsized in the Mona Passage, which separates Puerto Rico from the island of Hispaniola. A month later their funerals were held in San Juan, burying the victims far from home. A dozen of their fellow passengers remain missing, like so many others who have disappeared in the Mona Passage. In May, a boat carrying 842 Haitians arrived in central Cuba, the largest arrival by a single boat in many decades. The U.S. Coast Guard routinely repatriates people intercepted at sea.

Dominican artist Genaro Reyes comes from Miches, where many informal yola trips depart from the Dominican Republic, and his nickname "Cayuco" refers to the 38 years he has spent portraying through sculptures the dangers of these crossings in flimsy boats, canoe-like vessels. Unfortunately, as can be seen from the growing figures year after year below, he will continue to have abundant inspiration for his works (see his installation in the photo above), as Dominicans and other nationalities, mostly Haitian people using the country as a springboard, will persist in making these journeys until they have more legal channels through which they can travel.

The figures

From October 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022, the Coast Guard carried out 64 interdictions of irregular sea journeys in the Mona Passage and Caribbean waters near Puerto Rico. Those affected were 1,706 non-U.S. nationals, made up mostly of nationals of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (1,235 Dominicans, 370 Haitians, 01 Cuban, 1 Ecuadorian, 52 Venezuelans, 12 Uzbeks, and 35 of unknown nationality).

• 617 Dominicans, 83 Haitians, and 7 Brazilians in fiscal year 2021 (total migrants = 707)
• 1,095 Dominicans, 11 Haitians, 3 Venezuelans, and 13 of unknown nationality in fiscal year 2020 (total migrants = 1,122)
• 1,027 Dominicans, 10 Haitians, 3 Brazilians, and 1 Cuban in fiscal year 2019 (total migrants = 1,041)

Meanwhile, analysts predict that the number of Cubans leaving the island will be higher than ever in 2022. Since October, the Coast Guard has intercepted nearly 2,000 Cubans traveling on rafts. However, far more people are flying from Havana to the Americas before traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border: 114,000 have entered the United States since October according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (1% of the island's total population).

There is an urgent need to secure better living conditions for people pushed out of their countries by economic need or protection concerns, as well as sustainable reception policies in destination countries. The number of women and children involved in these irregular journeys, with specific protection needs, is deeply concerning. Some analysts have speculated that there may be more women among the fatalities in the Haitian group on these journeys because women have fewer opportunities to learn how to swim. In any case, Caribbean people from the archipelago should not have to keep risking their lives in undignified conditions "in search of life."