The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic — which runs across the island of Hispaniola and separates two countries of dramatically different economic and institutional conditions — became a focal point of migration, deportation, and humanitarian concern in 2020, as Haiti’s crises drove increasing numbers of people toward the Dominican Republic while the Dominican government accelerated its deportation of Haitians.
The Dominican Republic had long been a destination for Haitian migrants seeking economic opportunities unavailable at home, and the Haitian community in the DR — estimated in the hundreds of thousands, though exact figures were contested — had become an important part of the country’s labor force, particularly in agriculture and construction. The migration had been a source of both economic benefit and social tension.
In 2020, the combination of COVID-19, economic hardship in Haiti, and escalating gang violence pushed increasing numbers of Haitians across the border, even as the Dominican government intensified enforcement and deportations. The treatment of Haitian migrants and the large stateless population of Haitian descent born in the Dominican Republic remained deeply contentious human rights issues.
Civil rights organizations documented cases of deportation that violated due process standards, including mass expulsions that did not allow individuals to claim asylum or challenge their removal. They called on both governments to manage migration in ways that respected human dignity and international law, and for the international community to address the root causes of Haitian migration rather than simply managing its symptoms at the border.