The Caribbean island of Hispaniola is divided into two parts. While Haiti is descending into chaos and violence, the Dominican Republic is comparatively prosperous and stable. Now the construction of a canal on the border is leading to a diplomatic crisis.
Men heave metal rods into a ditch. Merlande stands at the edge of the construction site and takes a break. The 31-year-old worked on it herself. The canal is important for the people in the region. A lot of rice used to be grown there. But because there is little rain, there is no more harvest.
Because of the drought in the region, Haitians have started building a canal to irrigate the surrounding fields. The water from the Massacre border river is to be diverted. “Here, in this region, food is scarce and we are working to change that, for an independent Haiti,” says Merlande. She doesn’t get any money for her efforts. Like many, she wears a small national flag on her construction helmet.
There is a folk festival atmosphere at the Graben. Food stalls are lined up one after the other. A stage for church services was set up for the workers. The idea of not having to rely on food from the Dominican Republic makes many people euphoric.
Conflictual Relationship
Unlike its neighboring country, Haiti has been in a constant economic and political crisis for years. 80 percent of people live in poverty. The violence of criminal gangs shapes everyday life, especially in the capital Port-au-Prince.
In contrast, things are comparatively quiet in the Haitian border town of Ouanaminthe. But there is no work or prospects for people here either. José is also among the construction workers. He is combative: “In a year we will no longer be dependent on another country.”
While relations with the Dominican Republic were already conflictual – the wealthier country is building a wall to seal itself off from Haiti – the construction of the canal has triggered a serious diplomatic crisis. The neighboring country therefore closed the border for a few weeks. According to the Dominican interpretation, Haiti is depriving the Dominican side of its water. Haiti, on the other hand, refers to treaties from the past and sees itself as being in the right.
Tough action against Haitians
Since then, the Dominican Republic has taken increasingly harsh measures against Haitians in the country. Hundreds are being deported every day, documents Jocelyn Petion from the Haitian human rights organization GARR. Sometimes 300 to 500 Haitians are deported at a border crossing.
Pregnant women in particular often arrive on the Haitian side in a bad condition. They did not dare to go to clinics in the Dominican Republic because then they would be deported straight away. Your rights would not be protected. A terminally ill young woman had been carried across the border the day before, reports Petion. She was barely conscious.
Constant fear of deportation
There are many experiences of this kind. A few weeks ago, Marie-Julie Boursiquot, her three children and her husband were brutally dragged from their apartment. It was four in the morning when the police rang the family’s doorbell, says Boursiquot. The police immediately handcuffed them. She was only dressed in underwear. They didn’t give her time to get dressed, grabbed her brutally, hit her husband in the face, and his eye bled.
Two months ago, Boursiquot followed her husband to the Dominican Republic to escape the violence in Port-au-Prince. Gangs had broken into their neighboring district, set houses on fire and raped women. She didn’t want to be the next victim, she explained.
But they quickly no longer felt safe in the Dominican Republic either. While her husband worked in construction, she hardly dared to go out – because of the massive discrimination and, above all, fear of deportation, the young woman says. All of their valuables and cell phones were taken away by the police.
After their deportation, the family has been staying in the premises of the human rights organization GARR for the last few weeks. They don’t know what to do next, they have no savings and no relatives outside the capital, says Marie-Julie Boursiquot. But she is certain about one thing: she doesn’t want to go back to Port-au-Prince.