In the past three months, Dominican Republic authorities have significantly stepped up migration controls and forced removals of Haitians, including amongst them pregnant women arrested in hospitals, prompting international condemnation. The country, which has historically pursued a policy of mass deportations, removed more than 60,204 people to Haiti between 1 August and the end of […]
19 November 2021 – Dominican Republic
There has been a sharp uptick in anti-migrant policies and practices in the Dominican Republic in recent months, which have been fuelled in part by COVID-related restrictions and growing public backlash aimed at Haitians. Haiti and the Dominican Republic have a long history of political and racial tensions, often related to migration pressures. The Committee […]
08 December 2020 – Dominican Republic
On 1 March 2020, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the Dominican Republic. Between 15 and 19 March, the government adopted a series of emergency measures, including halting flights from Europe, China, South Korea, and Iran; suspending ferry arrivals; and closing border crossings with Haiti. As of December 2020, the country had registered 149,138 […]
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DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LENGTH OF MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION INSTITUTIONS
PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS
DETENTION MONITORS
> National human rights monitoring bodies
> National Preventive Mechanisms (Optional Protocol to UN Convetion against Torture)
> Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
> Governmental monitoring bodies
> International detention monitoring
TRANSPARENCY
READMISSION/RETURN/EXTRADITION AGREEMENTS
COVID-19
HEALTH CARE
COVID-19 DATA
Have Populations of Concern Been Included/Excluded From the National Vaccination Campaign?
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2012
2012
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2008
2008
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2007
2007
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 12/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999
2001
2001
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§1. The Committee is concerned that the inefficient functioning of the National Refugee Commission (CONARE) is greatly affecting the rights of asylum-seeking children and their families, the overwhelming majority of whom are of Haitian nationality. The Committee is also concerned that the inadequate access to identity documents for child refugees and asylum seekers and/or their relatives puts them at risk of detention and deportation and impedes their access to health care and education.
2. The Committee recommends that the State party:
...
(b) Ensure that the National Refugee Commission undertakes child refugee status determination (RSD) through a fair and efficient asylum procedure, in accordance with international standards and in cooperation with UNHCR;
(c) Ensure the speedy and cost-free processing of temporary identity documents for child refugees and asylum-seekers and their relatives, including documentation certifying legal residency for those who were recognized under the UNHCR mandate.
2015
2015
2015
Human Rights Committee
§20. The Committee remains concerned at the practice of deporting foreigners in conditions that are incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant. The Committee also regrets the detention for unspecified periods of persons who are going to be deported (arts. 9 and 10).
The State party should provide all persons subject to a deportation process with the guarantees established by the Covenant, abolish the detention for an unspecified time period of persons who are going to be deported and provide detained persons with effective remedies.
2012
2012
2012
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
§13. The Committee is concerned at information received according to which migrants of Haitian origin, whether documented or undocumented, are allegedly detained and subject to collective deportations (“repatriations”) to Haiti without any guarantee of due process (arts. 5 (a) and 6).
Taking into account its general recommendation 30 (2004) on non-citizens, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Ensure that laws concerning deportation or other forms of removal of non-citizens from the jurisdiction of the State party do not discriminate in purpose or effect among non-citizens on the basis of race, colour or ethnic or national origin;
(b) Ensure that non-citizens are not subject to collective expulsion, in particular in situations where there are insufficient guarantees that the personal circumstances of each of the persons concerned have been taken into account;
(c) Avoid the expulsion of non-citizens, especially of long-term residents, that would result in disproportionate interference with the right to family life;
(d) Ensure that non-citizens have equal access to effective remedies, including the right to challenge expulsion orders, and are allowed to pursue such remedies effectively. The Committee further recommends that the State party take the necessary measures to accelerate the approval of the provision of Migration Law No. 285-04 setting guidelines on the principle of due process in deportation or expulsion procedures.
The Committee invites the State party to adopt humane and internationally accepted measures in dealing with undocumented migrants.
2008
2008
2008
Human Rights Committee
24. The State party should, as a matter of urgency, take specific steps to:
[...]
(c) Avoid the arbitrary and indefinite detention of migrants, asylum seekers and refugee claimants, ensure that they have access to a lawyer and information on their rights, including at the border, and provide for alternatives to detention for asylum seekers and refugee claimants, ensuring that detention is used only as a last resort;
[...]
(d) Implement training programmes regarding the Covenant, international standards on asylum and refugee status, and human rights for the staff of migration institutions and border personnel;
[...]
2017
2017
Committee on the Rights of the Child
§ 40. "The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (CRC/C/DOM/CO/ 2, paras. 49 and 51) and recommends that the State party:
(a) Continue to evaluate the impact of social programmes for families, improve their efficiency and provide them with adequate resources;
(b) Not deport children who are in the care of their family in the State party and ensure that children are not deported to a country where their protection is not guaranteed;
(c) Strengthen its efforts to prevent the separation of children from their parents in the context of migration for economic reasons and ensure that persons who left the country to work abroad are able to meet their parental responsibilities, including by providing them with family counselling;
(d) Design and put in place programmes to support single-headed households, particularly those headed by adolescent girls, and ensure that they have access to early childhood care, health and education...
62. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Ensure that children are not deported to a country where their rights risk being violated;
(b) Ensure that the National Refugee Commission undertakes child refugee status determination (RSD) through a fair and efficient asylum procedure, in accordance with international standards and in cooperation with UNHCR;
(c) Ensure the speedy and cost-free processing of temporary identity documents for child refugees and asylum-seekers and their relatives, including documentation certifying legal residency for those who were recognized under the UNHCR mandate;
(d) Provide access to education, health, shelter and other services to which child refugees and asylum-seekers are entitled pursuant to the Convention.
64. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Strengthen efforts to provide unaccompanied migrant children with shelter, care and protection;
(b) Continue its efforts towards the adoption of coordination protocols between the authorities responsible for the protection of children at the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, as well as protocols for the voluntary return of migrant children, with guarantees of due process."
2015
2015
NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
DETENTION COSTS
OUTSOURCING
FOREIGN SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DETENTION OPERATIONS
Government Agencies
- Dirección General de Migración
- extranjeria@migracion.gob.do
- +1 829-820-5782
International Organisations
- IOM Dominican Republic
- UNHCR Dominican Republic
NGOs, NHRIs, and Research Institutions
- Observatorio Migrantes del Caribe
- MENAMIRD
- Ombudsman
Media
- Listin Diario
- Diario Libre
