jon lowell's position paper

Topic: Migrant workers
Country: The Dominican Republic
Delegate: Jonathan Bradford Lowell, Boothbay Region High School

Until the mid 1980’s hatian migrant workers were contracted as Braceros (Cane Cutters) for the sugar cane harvest which at the time the dominican operated on 12 sugar can feilds. Hatians were contracted in their own country through an agreement between both goverments the hatian government got all the money that was supposed to be paied to the workers though in the year 1986 the hatian government collected a 2 milion dollar check from the dominican government for the labor.
For decades Haitians have been leaving Haiti for better lives and a well paying job in the Dominican Republic, North America, and Europe. Many men and some women have been coming to the republic for the seasonal sugar cane industry private nationalized sugar plantations depend on the large swarm of Haitian workers. These workers are paid horribly and the work conditions are really crappie which most dominicans are not prepared to work under. The number of Haitians in the dominican republic is estimated in around the 500,000 to 1,000,000 person range accurate official records are not available. Most arrived several years ago when the sugar business needed thousands a year large numbers of Haitian workers still work in the agricultural sector but many have now moved on to construction, tourist industries, hotels, restaurants and manufacturing plants on the free trade zone border.
The migrant workers weather they are irregular, regular, or just dominicans of Haitian decent have been victims of numerous human rights violations for many years. Dominicans of Haitian decent have constantly been denied legal status under dominican law as a result the Inter-American Commission has labeled the legal status of dominican people of Haitian decent and Haitian workers in the dominican republic as one of “permanent illegality”. Birth certificates do not only prove nationality in the dominican republic children need them to get a range of services children without them will be denied access to education and are prevented from entering the job market when they get older.