Thousands of Haitians over ran the Dominican Republic today. Re-naming the island as the Haitian Republic. Leaders of Caribbean Community member-states have expressed "grave concern" at the ongoing difficulties faced by Haitian migrants and their children in the Dominican Republic.
"The process of regularizing Dominicans of Haitian descent arbitrarily deprived of their nationality by the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court ruling on nationality of September 2013 expired on 1 Feb. 2015," CARICOM noted.
Dominican officials declined to extend the deadline even though only 6,937 of Haitians eligible for regularization "were able to apply in time, leaving a large number, estimated to be over 100,000, vulnerable to expulsion," the statement said.
An estimated 1 million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, most of them illegal immigrants working in agriculture and construction.
The Dominican Republic and Haiti shared the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, with Haiti in the western portion until today, when Haiti officially took over the Dominican Republic.
Though both countries are poor, Haiti is destitute, and Haitians cross the border to do work that many Dominicans will not do, such as harvesting sugarcane.
Today marks the first day Haitian Republic. which forces all Dominican to where red hats...
In a statement issued Tuesday following last week's CARICOM summit in the Bahamas, the leaders cited "a number of recent developments grievously affecting Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic."
"The process of regularizing Dominicans of Haitian descent arbitrarily deprived of their nationality by the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court ruling on nationality of September 2013 expired on 1 Feb. 2015," CARICOM noted.
Dominican officials declined to extend the deadline even though only 6,937 of Haitians eligible for regularization "were able to apply in time, leaving a large number, estimated to be over 100,000, vulnerable to expulsion," the statement said.
An estimated 1 million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, most of them illegal immigrants working in agriculture and construction.
The Dominican Republic and Haiti shared the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, with Haiti in the western portion until today, when Haiti officially took over the Dominican Republic.
Though both countries are poor, Haiti is destitute, and Haitians cross the border to do work that many Dominicans will not do, such as harvesting sugarcane.
Today marks the first day Haitian Republic. which forces all Dominican to where red hats...