US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO3158

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 SANTO DOMINGO 003158 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/PPC, DRL; 
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON;SECDEF FOR OSD, JOINT STAFF 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD;TREASURY FOR OASIA-MWAFER 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, DR, HA 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN DEPORTATIONS OF HAITIANS - DEEPLY ROOTED 
PROBLEMS REMAIN 
 
REF: A. SANTO DOMINGO 02819 
 
     B. SANTO DOMINGO 3004 
 
1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  Repatriations of Haitians ceased after 
the May 9-12 round-ups and expulsion of about 1800 persons 
from the northwestern border areas, but conditions there 
remain largely unchanged.  On June 6 vengeful Dominicans 
attacked sleeping Haitians in the same area, prompting 
further panic.  Police have arrested the gang leaders, and 
the presidential spokesman and the Secretary of the Armed 
Forces have condemned vigilante violence. Dominican reactions 
and policy toward the approximately 700,000 undocumented 
Haitians in this country of 9 million are influenced by deep 
distrusts and resentments, inefficiencies, corruption and 
hardships in the market for unskilled labor.  Migration 
Director Carlos Amarante Baret intends to publish and enforce 
regulations requiring that 80 percent of workers in Dominican 
enterprises be nationals.  This impossible undertaking may be 
aimed partly at winning votes along the border for the 
president's party. END SUMMARY. 
 
THE MAY ROUND UP 
 
2. (U)  Dominican migration and military officials tell us 
they had already scheduled for early May a round-up of 
illegal Haitian immigrants in the northwestern border 
provinces.  In the early morning hours of May 8 a Haitian 
worker in the town of Hatillo Palma killed his Dominican 
neighbor with a machete (reftel).  News of the attack spread 
swiftly through Hatillo Palma and the surrounding provinces 
of Valverde and Monte Cristi and to the army's Fourth Brigade 
headquarters in the city of Mao.  The army chief of staff 
quickly authorized extra funds to accelerate deportations, 
starting in Hatillo Palma, and army trucks were there by 
mid-morning that same day.  Pressure had been building in 
that area for quite some time. In seven other incidents 
involving Haitians the local police had arrested culprits, 
but the justice system released them. 
 
3. (U)  Vocal Catholic leaders in the border provinces 
opposed the dragnet-style deportations.  The Archbishop of 
Mao/Monte Cristi Monsignor Abreu and Father Regino Martinez 
of Jesuit Service for Refugees based in Dajabon agree that 
events in Hatillo Palma forced the army to intervene, but 
Archbishop Abreu contends that the deportations were intended 
not to protect the Dominican population, but to give army and 
migration officials an opportunity to ransack homes and loot 
property.  Shortly after the expulsions of 1800 individuals, 
Father Martinez assisted in the return of more than 150 of 
them who had a legal right to live and work in the Dominican 
Republic.  Martinez says that migration officials were 
summary in their decisions and as a result they often 
deported Dominicans because they "look Haitian."  In Santo 
Domingo, Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez commented 
only that the problem was "complex" and that the authorities 
must do something about it. 
 
DUE PROCESS 
 
4. (SBU)  During the operations, in any case, the army 
reportedly performed with restraint and prevented violence 
against Haitians at the hands of the townspeople.  General 
Caceres Chistaro, commander of the 4th Brigade in Mao, says 
that some of his units were fired upon by unknown assailants 
during the deportations but did not return fire.  Even if 
military conduct was disciplined, there remain questions 
about respect for due process for repatriations.  In 
December, 1999 the first Fernandez administration signed the 
bilateral "Protocol of Understanding on Mechanisms for 
Repatriation"  specifying conditions and procedures; 
non-governmental organizations produced and shared with the 
Embassy posters in Spanish and in Creole outlining these. 
Among other stipulations, the protocol reportedly prohibits 
government confiscation of property or documents, provides 
that each person repatriated will receive a copy of an 
individual order of repatriation, and that authorities will 
provide to diplomatic representatives the lists of 
individuals being processed for repatriation.  Anecdotes 
gathered at the scene (ref a) and from press reporting 
suggest that those measures were respected only partly if at 
all.  Implementing regulations for the 2004 Migration Law may 
further amplify such requirements.  In discussion with the 
DCM, Deputy Foreign Minister Alejandra Liriano said the 
administration is aware that there is a need to re-examine 
the bilateral commitments and specified procedures. (reb b) 
 
THE DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF DESPERATE LABOR 
 
5. (SBU)  Illegal Haitian migrants have been flowing across 
the border for years and will probably continue as long as 
Dominicans employ Haitians in low-wage jobs in construction, 
tourism and agriculture.  There are few statistics on the 
number of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. 
President Fernandez has said in conversations with Embassy 
officials that of a population of 9 million in the Dominican 
Republic around 700,000 are Haitians living illegally in the 
country.  In the area around Hatillo Palma, Monti Cristi 
Province, large numbers of illegal migrants work in the 
cultivation of organic bananas, which is labor intensive. 
Local residents told Embassy officials that Haitians working 
on the banana plantations earn about 125 pesos/day whereas 
Dominican workers demand 200 pesos/day.  One resident in 
Hatillo Palma commented that the deportations had been 
successful from his point of view because the banana 
plantation owners did not have any Haitian workers and now 
had to hire Dominican workers. 
 
6. (SBU)  The Migration Department issues work permits for 
Haitian workers to local employers.  Archbishop Abreu aserts 
that migration officials extort 1000 pesos per  permit. 
Employers reportedly pass this cost onto the Haitian workers, 
who have to pay an illegal fee. The permit limits them to a 
region (for example, the Northern provinces or Santiago) and 
restricts the type of employment (construction, agriculture). 
 Permits are valid for only 6 months or a year.  At army and 
migration checkpoints throughout the country, officials 
threaten to confiscate the cards unless they receive a bribe. 
 This may explain why many Haitian workers did not offer 
proper documentation during the latest round-up.  Legal 
workers were afraid to present their permits for fear that 
they would be confiscated and/or destroyed; then they would 
have to start the whole, expensive process from the 
beginning. 
 
7. (SBU)  On the illegal side of immigration, "buscones" or 
informal labor market touts on both sides of the border 
arrange for workers to come across the border to work, 
typically in agriculture or construction.  Illegal workers 
are generally men in their early to mid 20's.  They are 
transported by bus or truck to the plantations were they 
work.  They live on the plantations or in nearby towns in 
very simple rented dwellings.  Once these illegal workers 
have settled into towns or "bateyes," they may encourage 
their families to join them in the Dominican Republic or send 
their earnings back to Haiti.  This form of illegal migration 
will continue as long as there is a market for inexpensive 
labor in the Dominican Republic. 
 
HAITIAN LABOR: USERS AND DEFENDERS 
 
8. (U)  Dominican farmers and businesses encourage Haitians 
to immigrate illegally so the enterprise can pay less for 
labor.  Haitians are perceived to be more diligent than 
Dominicans.  Recent closings and layoffs at Dominican 
manufacturing firms (especially in textile factories) in free 
zones have caused higher unemployment and discontent in the 
Santiago region.  Racism also plays a part in Santiago's 
Cibao Valley, as the general population in the Santiago area 
considers itself "whiter" than that elsewhere.  Civil 
disorder in Haiti adds to immigration tensions. 
 
9. (U)  Many sectors of the Dominican economy depend on 
Haitian labor.  During the boom years of the economy 
(1995-2001), construction starts soared and Haitian workers 
provided the basic labor at low cost.  Throughout the history 
of Dominican-Haitian relations, Dominican sugar growers have 
contracted Haitians to work in the cane harvesting in the 
southwestern and eastern provinces of the Dominican Republic. 
 A recent report on Haitian migration from the International 
Organization for Migration (OIM) documents the shift of 
Haitian labor into construction, the tourism sector, and 
domestic work.  On June 3 Jose Rodriguez, president of the 
builders' association ACOPROVI called for the authorities to 
control the borders but nevertheless to permit continued use 
of Haitian labor for construction.  At the same time the Rice 
Growers Federation stressed that the sector must have Haitian 
labor to harvest the crop. 
 
THE ANTI-HAITIAN ATTITUDE 
 
10. (SBU)  Dominican resentment of Haitians goes back for 
centuries.  Dominicans celebrate their independence on 
February 27, the anniversary of independence from Haitian 
rule in 1844, instead of commemorating the wars of liberation 
from Spanish rule.  Associated with this feeling is an acute 
sensibility to race and skin color.  For example, Dominican 
drivers' licenses require identification according to 5 
shades of skin color.  School children often create nicknames 
based on color.  U.S. citizens of African heritage have been 
turned away when seeking access to nightclubs in the capital. 
 
11. (SBU)  Some Dominicans, especially military officers, 
blame the lack of Haitian border controls on the disbanding 
of Haitian Army in 1994.  Though a seriously flawed 
institution, the Haitian Army is viewed as having prevented 
or slowed Haitian immigration, albeit through corrupt 
methods.  Many Dominicans dismiss the Haitians as a savage 
people capable of unpredictable acts of cruelty, and the 
machete attack in Hatillo Palma touched upon this fear. 
 
12. (SBU)  Father Martinez of the Jesuit Service for Refugees 
told officers that as many as 55 children and adults were 
deported because they looked Haitian, even though the 
deportees had never lived in Haiti.  As if to reinforce this 
point, Gen. Guerrero Clase, head of Dominican airport 
security (CESA), recently told an Embassy official that in a 
previous round up his Dominican cousin had been mistakenly 
deported to Haiti simply because of his dark skin color. 
 
A PROCEDURAL AND POLITICAL ISSUE 
 
13. (SBU)  Carlos Amarante Baret, Director General de 
Migracion, told an Embassy official that though the military 
is in charge of border areas, the Migration Service is 
responsible for internal controls.  Migration officials 
directed operations with the assistance of the military. 
Amarante confirmed that around 1800 Haitians were deported 
during their May 8-11 operation.  He said he had stacks of 
fraudulent documents confiscated from deportees.   According 
to him, officials fed the Haitians before sending them by bus 
to the border.   Amarente Baret says that the authorities 
collected and stored the property of the deportees.  When 
pressed further on process, Amarante did not assert that the 
Haitians were given hearings and made no mention of paperwork 
processed before their deportations.  General Caceres 
Chistaro told us earlier that all those apprehended were 
interviewed by Migration officials. 
 
14. (SBU)  Amarante Baret considers that illegal Haitian 
workers pose a threat to Dominican tourism, including as a 
vector for disease such as malaria.  He commented that the 
public perceives that there are too many Haitians in the 
country, even though there are no official statistics on the 
number.  His internal control operations focus on Haitians 
that are loiterers and street vendors, he says, and Migration 
usually avoids deporting Haitians working productively in 
construction or agriculture -- with the obvious exception of 
the incident at Hatillo Palma.  This strategy in deportations 
will change after June 2005 when President Fernandez signs 
the regulations prepared for implementation of the 2004 
Immigration Act.  The new regulations specify that Dominican 
businesses may employ foreigners for only 20 percent of their 
workforce; the rest must be Dominican.  The Migration 
Director plans to hold meetings with business leaders to 
explain these new limits on hiring foreigners.  He feels that 
Dominican businesses have been exploiting the Haitians, first 
by hiring them at low wages and then by using the migration 
service to deport them if they object to substandard wages. 
 
MOST RECENT VIOLENCE 
 
15. (U)  The border area until early this week appeared to 
have returned to normal.  The bi-weekly market in Dajabon 
took place on Mondays and Fridays as usual.  There were 
violent incidents -- a total of four Haitians were reported 
to have died by stabbings or beatings in Puerto Plata and 
rural areas -- but there was no clear connection to the 
Hatillo Palma incidents.  Then, early in the morning of June 
6, a group of Dominicans in Hatillo Palma invaded a farm late 
at night, killed two Haitians, including an aged evangelical 
preacher who had lived in the community for 30 years, and 
injured four others.  This gang action was certainly in 
retribution for the May 9 killing of the Dominican 
storeowner; at the same time it may have been planned 
violence pressuring the Haitian community to leave.   One 
survivor of the attack identified some of the assailants. 
The local district attorney is investigating.  As of June 8, 
the police had arrested 5  Dominicans allegedly involved in 
the attack, including the brother-in-law of the murdered 
storekeeper, and they were looking for four more. According 
to the press, within hours of the attack, the military was 
again present in the area.  Despite press reports to the 
contrary, there has been no further resort to large-scale 
roundups; the military appears to have taken some Haitians 
into protective custody.  The military and migration 
officials responsible for the area met on June 8 but took no 
decision to act. 
 
16.  (U) On June 8 presidential press spokesman Rafael Nunez 
deplored the attack on the Haitians and warned that no one 
would be permitted to take the law into his own hands.  8The 
government does not support this attitude, on anyone,s 
part.8   He said that the judicial authorities and police 
are seeking those responsible in order to bring them to 
justice. Nunez rejected the suggestion that the authorities 
were seizing Haitian property: &The government cannot act 
the way some Dominicans have, taking reprisals against 
Haitians; they are human beings and we should respect their 
rights.8 
 
17.  (U) Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez called on the 
authorities to take the problem seriously, so as to avoid 
serious consequences.  &Many Dominicans are very bothered 
because Haitian labor competes with their own and is 
displacing them.8  The non-governmental Dominican Committee 
on Human Rights and a Haitian defense group issued a 
statement condemning the &wave of racisim, xenophobia and 
anti-Haitian violence existing in the country.8   Father 
Christopher Hartley, parish priest for communities associated 
with the sugar plantations east of Santo Domingo, publicly 
expressed his concern that since the cane harvest is nearing 
its end, there might be plans for massive repatriations from 
that area of the country. 
 
18.  (U)  Hatillo Palma Mayor Joselyn Espinal told a 
journalist that townspeople had returned to their usual 
occupations but that they were afraid.  "Attitudes have 
changed a lot here, and the Dominicans don't want to go back 
to their farms for fear of reprisals from the Haitians." 
Townspeople staged a march on June 9, the one-month 
anniversary of the attack on the storekeeper, demanding that 
the authorities bring to justice the attackers currently 
imprisoned in Mao. 
 
COMMENT 
 
19. (SBU)  There is no easy solution to this cycle of 
revenge, hunger, search for employment, and resentment.  The 
Dominican military and migration authorities are operating on 
an ad hoc basis, while awaiting the approval of regulations 
for implementation of the 2004 Migration Law.  There are also 
political forces at work.  As the country approaches the 
run-up to the 2006 Dominican congressional elections, the 
administration and security authorities have publicly 
rejected violence.  However, President Fernandez's political 
party, the Partido de la Liberacion Dominicana (PLD), might 
be interested in using the Haitian deportation issue to win 
over Dominican voters as they seek the 10 senatorial seats 
for provinces near the Haitian border.  With increased job 
losses in free trade zone areas and higher unemployment, 
deportations could attract voter sympathies there.  The PLD 
would very much like to win back some of the 28 senate seats 
held by the principal opposition party, the Partido 
Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD). 
 
18. (U)  Drafted by Mark Kendrick, Michael Meigs 
 
19. (U)  This piece and others can be consulted on classified 
SIPRNET site http://www.state.sgov/p/wha/santodomingo/ along 
with extensive other material. 
Kubiske