President Luis Abinader’s second term must prioritize respect for human rights and end racist migration policies

The measures authorizing the participation of the National Police, the Armed Forces and other public security forces in migration operations have led to a fragmentation of roles in migration matters and to discretionary and opaque procedures. Also of concern is the lack of human rights training for these law enforcement agencies to ensure that migrants are treated with dignity and without discrimination.

Amnesty International has been informed of corruption, extortion and possible influence peddling by authorities during arrests, transfers and detention in the context of migration operations, including in the border area.

Several testimonies indicate that this fragmentation of roles leads to confusion about the paths that migrants and those seeking international protection should follow after detention, fosters a widespread network of extortion of migrants, and limits access to justice for Haitian migrants, who are afraid to approach institutions such as the police or the public prosecutor’s office when they are victims of crime. This notably limits the reporting of gender-based violence against Haitian migrant women and girls. Although there have been investigations involving migration officials, authorities have not taken consistent and concrete measures to ensure access to justice for migrants who have suffered human rights violations.

Amnesty International has received information that the procedures people go through after being detained in migration operations vary depending on the authority that arrests them. When they are detained by DGM migration officers, they are put into trucks known as ““sweaters”. Although these have a capacity of 30 to 40 people, reports indicate that in practice they hold many more. Detainees are beaten and forcibly placed inside, often with no room to move and little air to breathe. They are left there for long hours in high temperatures before being transferred to a detention centre, without access to water, sanitation or food, seriously compromising their physical integrity.

Amnesty International has received reports of appalling conditions in some of the reception centres where people are taken to have their migration status “assessed” prior to deportation. The facilities lack adequate services or space, with overcrowding, lack of access to water and food, restrictions on communication with family members or lawyers, and confiscation of mobile phones. The authorities responsible do not ask or assess whether any of the detainees have a medical condition that requires attention, and detainees are denied access to apply for international protection. Amnesty has also received reports of women being subjected to sexual violence by the authorities in these reception centres and during the deportation process, including groping, comments about their bodies and demands for sexual favours in exchange for their release. In some cases, these situations escalate to rape by the authorities.

These reports show that violations of the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman and/or degrading treatment have occurred in the context of migration operations.

Amnesty International has learned that black people, both Dominicans and foreigners, have been arbitrarily detained on the basis of racial profiling and for deportation purposes. This puts Dominicans of Haitian descent at risk, including beneficiaries of Law No. 169-14, which “establishes a special regime for persons born in the national territory and irregularly registered in the Dominican Civil Registry, and with regard to naturalization.”