The Dominican Republic implemented dramatic new enforcement measures in October 2023 that tripled the pace of deportations of Haitian and Haitian-descended individuals, with thousands of people expelled weekly in operations that human rights organizations condemned as mass expulsions violating international protection standards. The intensification of Dominican enforcement came at a moment when Haiti’s crisis made any return particularly dangerous and when the humanitarian capacity to receive deportees was already overwhelmed.
The Dominican measures were framed by the government as necessary responses to irregular migration that strained public services and threatened national security. The measures included increased police and military presence at the border, rapid deportation procedures that allowed minimal opportunity for individuals to claim protection, and the expulsion of individuals who had lived in the Dominican Republic for years or decades with no meaningful connection to Haiti.
Human rights organizations documented cases of particular concern: pregnant women deported to Haiti with no prenatal care available; people with serious medical conditions returned to a country with a collapsed health system; children separated from parents during deportations; and individuals of Haitian descent who had been born in the Dominican Republic and never lived in Haiti being expelled to a country they had never known.
International human rights bodies called on the Dominican Republic to implement deportation procedures that complied with international refugee and human rights law, including individual screening of deportees for protection needs, access to legal assistance, and prohibition on return to situations of serious harm. The calls were largely ignored as Dominican authorities maintained that their sovereign right to control their borders took precedence over the international protection concerns being raised.