The Introduction to this report focuses on the expulsion of Haitians and Dominico-Haitians from the Dominican Republic between the months of June and September 1991, coercive labour practices on sugarcane plantations, progress since the 1991 harvest, and the stance of the United States. The first section of the report deals with forced 'repatriations', including the Presidential Decree 233-91 which promised reforms in the treatment of sugarcane workers, the arbitrariness of expulsions, the failure to recognize Dominican citizenship, and the widespread abuses during roundups of Haitians. Individual case studies are presented of the abuses as well as information on detention centres and testimony of deportees. The report then examines forced recruitment at the border and in Haiti. Individual case studies are again used. A separate section of the report concerns forced labour. The report argues that the practices of restriction of freedom of movement, confiscation of personal belongings and detention and physical mistreatment combined to form a system of coercion that continued to underlie the state sugar industry in 1992. The report states that the Dominican Government continues to reject and to try to discredit international criticism of its human rights practices. The report defends many of the criticisms put forward by the Dominican Government against Americas Watch and the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees. The final section of the report deals with US policy and the decision of the Administration to maintain trade benefits to the Dominican Republic. The attitude of the US State Department and the US Congress towards the Dominican labour practices are also evoked. The report concludes with various recommendations for the Dominican Government.

In this groundbreaking work, Trenita Childers explores the enduring system of racial profiling in the Dominican Republic, where Dominicans of Haitian descent are denied full citizenship in the only country they have ever known. As birthright citizens, they now wonder why they are treated like they are “in someone else’s country.” Childers describes how nations like the Dominican Republic create “stateless” second-class citizens through targeted documentation policies. She also carefully discusses the critical gaps between policy and practice while excavating the complex connections between racism and labor systems. Her vivid ethnography profiles dozens of Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian descent and connects their compelling individual experiences with broader global and contemporary discussions about race, immigration, citizenship, and statelessness while highlighting examples of collective resistance.

"This 48-page report documents hundreds of cases from 13 provinces around the country. Human Rights Watch found that Dominicans of Haitian descent are still unable to access basic civic functions such as registering children at birth, enrolling in school and college, participating in the formal economy, or travelling around the country without risk of expulsion"--Publisher's description.