NCHR Caribbean Migration and Human Rights Project

Introduction. Although the US-led intervention that restored democratic government to Haiti in 1994 ended the 1991-1994 refugee crisis, it did not address most of the underlying causes of Haitian migration. The economic, environmental and political pressures that induce individuals to leave continue to build (in Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean), promising future refugee emergencies, while the US government treats migration from the Caribbean as a national security problem best addressed by a naval cordon sanitaire designed to block access to the Florida coast. Meanwhile, political forces inside the US have sought to reduce foreign aid to and immigration opportunities from the region, and to end the role of the US as a refuge for those fleeing oppression. The Haiti crisis, for example, was shaped by these considerations.

US domestic and regional policies thus reflect two sides of the same coin: United States regional migration policy is driven by domestic political pressures to close the door to both legitimate immigrants and political refugees. Recognizing this linkage between domestic immigration policies and Caribbean migration flows, the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) has launched a two-part initiative to focus attention on these issues and press for comprehensive regional solutions.

The premise underlying NCHR's Caribbean Migration and Human Rights Project is that the values and policies sustaining US government policy toward resident immigrants strongly influences foreign policy in the Caribbean. Therefore, if the US is to welcome the importance of the cultural and economic contributions of immigrants while remaining open to those escaping oppression, it must take a proactive role to control migration, establish an intelligent immigration policy and develop a regional strategy for handling refugee emergencies. This requires the US to view migration and human rights problems in the Caribbean within the context of regional security, trade, economic and political development issues. NCHR advocacy aims to persuade the US and international financial, development, refugee and human rights organizations working in the area to re-focus their programs toward regional initiatives that provide aid and incentives for normalizing immigrant populations and controlling migration flows in accord with international refugee and human rights standards.

Phase One: United States Policy. The first phase of the project focuses on the US, the goal of most economic migrants and political refugees in the region. Migration is a security question for the US, one with both domestic and international aspects. On the domestic front, migration has become a highly charged political issue. The historically-valued contributions of immigrants have been eclipsed by charges that when immigrants' education, social and health requirements are added to the jobs "taken" from US citizens, the costs of immigration (illegal and legal) outweigh any benefits. Organized drug and human smuggling tend to accompany illegal migration as perceived threats to US economic security and the fiscal stability of state and federal governments.

US foreign policy in the Caribbean region, driven by an anti-immigrant domestic politics, has as its principal goal the prevention of migration flows to the North American shore. Unfortunately, however, US policymakers have addressed migration and refugee problems in the Caribbean only in times of crisis, developing ad-hoc, short-term solutions (such as the US interdiction-at-sea and "safe haven" policies in response to the 1991-94 Haitian refugee crisis). Post-crisis Haiti policy has been equally limited. The US is maintaining just enough of a military presence to maintain order until the November 1996 elections; supporting an economic restructuring program that may generate additional poverty, and thus additional out-migration, in the short run; and patrolling Haitian waters with Coast Guard cutters to pick up any Haitians who do leave. This strategy aims to hold off Haitian migration flows for the short-term. It does nothing to address the root causes of migration in the Caribbean. Nor does it deal with the (far larger) numbers of illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic or prepare for a potential increase in Cuban outflows.

NCHR Workplan. Consequently, the first phase of this program is dedicated to advocacy work in Washington, D.C. to persuade the Executive and the Congress to develop and pursue a comprehensive Caribbean migration program that goes beyond short-term palliatives and recognizes and addresses root causes -- poverty, economic crisis, environmental degradation, population growth, political repression and human rights abuses. The key to the strategy is to link the development of rational and humane domestic immigrant policies to the development of a strategy -- in conjunction with other states and regional and international organizations -- to control migration flows from the Caribbean.

NCHR will seek to build a coalition of human rights, immigration, labor and immigrant community groups as part of its strategy to influence US policy in this area. Just as important, however, are the traditional domestically-focused immigration advocacy groups and policy institutes. NCHR will work with these organizations to persuade them that the development of domestic immigrant policies is closely linked to the ability of the US government to address migration issues in (among other places) the Caribbean on a comprehensive, long-term basis. These policies include local and regional economic development aid aimed at giving restive populations the option to earn a sustainable income at home; the expansion of democratic institutions and respect for human rights, particularly as they affect migrant residents, to avoid massive deportations and repatriations; and regional emergency migration response mechanisms designed to avoid crises and share refugee burdens.

Phase Two: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean. The second phase of the project proposes to develop the initial steps toward regional cooperation on migration matters by focusing on Haiti and the Dominican Republic. These two states form a microcosm of Caribbean migration problems -- migration is the principal issue affecting political and economic relations between them, migration is tied to issues of poverty, economic development, population pressures and environmental degradation, and the two states have, in recent years, sent large numbers of migrants to the US.

They also illustrate the deep connection between migration issues, human rights abuses and political stability. NCHR has reported on the human rights issues affecting the 500,000 Haitian immigrants and their descendants in the Dominican Republic for several years. These immigrants -- most of whom, including long-time residents, have no official immigration status and face serious racial discrimination and economic exploitation -- are subject to arbitrary round-up and deportation to Haiti at any time. In turn, this "stateless" population poses a risk to political stability in Haiti itself. The Dominican government has not been adverse to using the threat of massive expulsions as a diplomatic weapon against Haiti. That weapon was used in 1991, when a Dominican campaign to expel thousands of sugar cane workers and their families sent 30,000 to 50,000 individuals surging across the border. The flood of deportees contributed to the undermining and military overthrow of the Aristide government. An analysis of the historic, political and human rights perspectives on the Haitian populations in the Dominican Republic is contained in the NCHR report Beyond the Bateyes: Haitian Immigrants in the Dominican Republic (1996).

Currently, the US and international development and financial communities are focusing all of their resources on short-term recovery projects in Port-au-Prince. This Haiti focus ignores opportunities for long-term trade and economic development planning on the island as a whole, the most promising strategy for easing migration pressures in both states. It fails to connect political stability in Haiti with democratic development in the Dominican Republic, whose authoritarian civilian and military leaders preferred dealing with Haitian dictators. Finally, the approach ignores the fact that the largest source of undocumented Caribbean migration to the US is from the Dominican Republic, not Haiti, and an island-wide strategy could address this migration issue as well.

The shift in focus of economic and political development efforts from Haiti to the island of Hispañola would have several important consequences. First, two long-standing antagonists would be encouraged by the promise of joint economic aid to develop strategies for regional economic development projects (particularly in the sensitive border area), promoting growth on the island as a whole.

Second, the two states would obtain assistance to normalize labor flows from Haiti to the Dominican Republic within the context of an overhaul of immigration and nationalization systems on both halves of the island. For example, Dominican migration control should be demilitarized and the immigration status of Haitian residents legally determined as a prelude to bilateral commercial or migrant labor agreements. At the same time, Haiti's immigration, customs and border control capabilities should be significantly strengthened in order to monitor cross-border trade as well as control migration flows.

Third, the human rights problems of Haitian residents in the Dominican Republic can be ameliorated by ending military control of the Haitian population, normalizing the immigration status of undocumented residents and incorporating enforceable labor and other human rights protections into bilateral trade, migrant labor and migration accords. Furthermore, the project's approach can be extended to address migration and refugee flows elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Finally, the timing is appropriate. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are installing new, democratically-elected governments in 1996. The two states have already taken tentative steps toward joint talks, appointing a bilateral commission to analyze and prepare proposals for joint trade, development, environmental and other initiatives.

NCHR Workplan. In this phase, NCHR will extend its advocacy work to other governments, international development and financing agencies and governmental organizations involved in development, migration and human rights in the Caribbean to develop comprehensive migration policies for the region. NCHR proposes to establish forums for the discussion of these regional (Haiti-Dominican Republic) issues for government officials, international organizations and civil society groups in the US, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. NCHR proposes to use these local discussions as the basis for a multi-lateral conference on the topic in Santo Domingo, where Haitian and Dominican policy makers, in conjunction with officials from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and the Organization of American States can offer concrete proposals for bilateral economic development, migration and human rights initiatives.

The conference publication would include a set of concrete proposals for both Haitian-Dominican Republic initiatives and regional accords and mechanisms for controlling (and reducing the friction caused by) informal migration flows and refugee emergencies. NCHR would use these recommendations as the basis for follow-up advocacy with the US and other governments and actors in the region.