A life of poverty draws Haitians to other more developed countries like the Dominican Republic. Photo Courtesy of Martin Baran

Each year thousands of Haitians risk their lives to enter the Dominican Republic to work the fields, build houses or clean them.

They are part of a growing migration trend, one that is largely ignored by the international community.

Around the world, more than ever before, people are moving in greater number from one developing country to another.  A recent report by the World Bank estimates there are 74 million “south-to-south” migrants in the world, meaning people moving between developing states. This equals almost half of the world’s migrants.

Patricia Weiss Fagen, a migration researcher at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., thinks the bank’s figure is low.

“There is more south-to-south movement than south to north,” she says.

To date, it is difficult to quantify these migrants because of their clandestine existence. Slowly, this is likely to change though with more study being redirected into south-to-south migration.  

The World Banks estimates that 80 per cent of this migration is between bordering states.  Haiti and the Dominican Republic share a porous 388-km border that thousands of Haitians cross each year in search of a “better life.”

South-to-south migrants are driven from their home by reasons most often beyond their control.  Most seek to escape the grip of poverty, political instability and violence by moving to nearby less poor countries. 

Fortune or misfortune

Haitian migration to its neighbour on the island of Hispaniola began a century ago.  It started following the end of the 22-year occupation of Santo Domingo by Haiti in 1844, an event that stirs resentment in many Dominicans to this day. Since then, migration from Haiti has ebbed and flowed and so to have Dominican attitudes and government policies towards Haitians.

For the last decade, in step with the global migration trend identified by the World Bank, Haitian migration to the Dominican Republic has grown.  

Estimates put the number of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic at between 500,000 to one million, the latter figure from the Dominican government. This translates into between six to 11 per cent of the Dominican population.  

A better life comes at a high cost.  Since most Haitian migrants cross the border illegally they often have to pay smugglers and bribe police to reach the other side of the island. Once across, if they make it, they face discrimination, exploitation, abuse and the threat of deportation. 

“These people (Haitians) don’t have to many options, those who can go North go, and those with fewer resources go to the Dominican Republic,” says Bridget Wooding of the Faculty of Social Sciences for Latin America, known as FLACSO in Spanish, in Washington.

Anti-Haitian sentiment runs deep in Dominican society entrenched by policies of Dominican President Rafael Trujillo’s during his leadership from 1930 to 1961.  During this time he  he designated the Dominican Republic an “Hispanic” nation, denying its African roots. 

Instances of violence towards Haitians have increased in the last few years after a murder of a Dominican couple in May 2005, allegedly committed by Haitians.  The accusations set off a series of attacks against Haitians. Homes were set ablaze, migrants were rounded up and deported, and three Haitians were burned to death in Santo Domingo. 

Despite immense obstacles, Haitians continue to flood into the Dominican Republic. The attraction of employment and higher wages is too strong.  Migrants can expect to earn up to six times more in the Dominican Republic.  The economic disparities between the two countries are seen in the gross national income.  In Haiti it is US$480 in contrast to US$2, 230 for the Dominican Republic.

“Most migrants end up working and contributing to the economy and send money back home,” says Khalid Koser, a migration researcher at the Brookings Institute, a Washington D.C. based think-tank.

Despite the risks and hardships and whether attracted by economic opportunities or pressured to emigrate by political or environmental reasons, many can to some extent expect a higher standard of living in the Domincan Republic and to contribute to their family’s finances in Haiti.

An Inter-American Dialogue report reveals Haitians in the Dominican Republic send home US$135 million per year, with the average remittance at US$96.  Most of this money is used to pay school fees, start a business, open a savings account or buy or build a house in Haiti.

Dominican responses

The Dominican government is quick to portray itself as bearing the brunt of Haiti’s burden with minimal ability to carry it.

“The international community wants to accuse the Dominican Republic of this or that, but it is not always true,” says Luis Kalaff, a Economic Counsellor with the Canadian Embassy of the Dominican Republic.

He points out that the Dominican government spends 20 per cent of its public healthcare budget on Haitians.  Adding the government also offers free education to Haitians living in the country. 

“They think we have apartheid in the Dominican Republic (referring to the attitude towards Haitians) but we really don’t,” he adds.

Apartheid or not, Haitians are often treated as second-class citizens in the Dominican Republic, vulnerable to exploitation and human-rights abuses.            

Employers, police, military and immigration officials are still widely known to treat Haitians poorly. Since the 1980s there has been no official framework to regulate the flow of immigrants into the country.

Migration levels are stabilized only by a government policy of deportation.  Within the last two decades, successive Dominican governments have conducted mass deportations of Haitian immigrants, regardless of its illegality under international law.  Human Rights Watch Americas estimates that more than 10,000 deportations take place each year.

At odds

Little has been done to tackle irregular Haitian migration because despite the resistance it is needed to support the growing Dominican economy.  For the past decade, the country’s growth has exploded and Haitian labour is needed to fuel the fire. They do what Koser calls the “3D-jobs,” meaning jobs that are dirty, dangerous or difficult often in combination.

“Haitians do jobs Dominicans don’t really do,” says Kalaff acknowledging their contribution to the country’s economy.

This argument is made for immigrants in the developed states also. In the US it is largely Mexicans and Dominicans ironically that assume these roles.

Because more than a million Dominicans have left for the U.S., without Haitian labour, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs argues the economy would collapse, in particular the agriculture sector.

“Haitians are embedded into every sector of the Dominican economy , the formal and the informal,” says Wooding.  “They are part of the Dominican Republic’s economic landscape.”

Migration chains are seen as one of the main reasons movement among developing countries is on the rise, with domestic workers emigrating, foreign workers are needed to fill the gap.  This is happening in developing countries such India, Argentina, and Russia among others.           

According to Manuel Orozco, a migration researcher at the Inter-American Dialogue, this trend contributes to the growth of the global economy significantly by providing much needed labour, but he questions if left unregulated how long it will be sustained.

What’s needed?

To deal with the migration pressures of today, governments need to work together to establish practical migration policies.  These policies must strike a balance between regulating the movement of people while contributing to personal wellbeing and the economy of both receiving and sending countries.  

“Most of the time developing countries don’t have the ability to do this,” says Jeroen Doomernik, professor at the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies at University of Amsterdam. 

This is the case for the Dominican and Haitian governments. Both lack the resources and infrastructure needed to effectively police the border.

With  global migration being linked  to the spread of terrorism and disease and creating regional instability and modern slavery, it is time for the international community to act.

The North must stop leaving countries like the Dominican Republic and Haiti to shoulder the burden of migration, says Koser. 

In short, developed countries must step up, especially because research shows developing countries are often a stepping stone on the path to developed ones.

More bilateral and multilateral agreements would alleviate irregular migration trends and better employ the social and economic benefits of migration.

If left unchecked, all south-to-south migration may start to look like the precarious situation on the island of Hispaniola.