Dominican Republic Project
Amicus Curiae Project on Haitian Children in the Dominican Republic
Dr. Erwin H. Epstein was contacted by Dr. David Post, Penn State University, regarding an opportunity to advance education as a human right in the Americas. Dr. Post was contacted by the University of California-Berkley Law School, regarding a law suit involving two young women in the Dominican Republic. The University of California-Berkley wanted to bolster the case via amicus curie briefs. The plantiffs, who were granted a hearing, were born in the Dominican Republic to mothers who themselves were native born in the Dominican Republic. They have grown up in the Dominican Republic and speak only Spanish. However, they both have Haitian fathers who are no longer in the picture and their Haitian background has caused them much difficulty in officially registering with the state and obtaining a national identity (i.e., birth certificate). A state functionary who denied the girls' registration applications said she was under orders not to register children of Haitian decent. If one lacks an official birth certificate, schools will not enroll students, even though education is compulsory from ages 6-13. Thus, Dilcia and Violeta are being denied two main human rights: the right to a nationality and the right to an education. (There are other components to this case, but those are the two major ones).
The Berkley Law professor was granted a hearing against the state of the Dominican Republic in front of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in March of 2004 and sought the volunteer efforts and endorsement of a scholarly group (thus the contact with Dr. Post). Because the IACHR will be determining, for the first time, the right to an education among its member states and will set a precedent for years to come, Drs. Post and Epstein were keenly interested in getting involved. Dr. Epstein asked for volunteers to assist in writing a concise synthesis of the benefits of schooling in Latin American countries. Hee Kyoung Hong, Jennifer Schmuhl, and Lilith Werner volunteered to work together to investigate, analyze, write the portion about the benefits of education on citizenship. In addition to Loyola's contribution, other universities are involved in assisting with the resolution as well.
Some facts to consider about children's human rights in the Dominican Republic:
Child labor, including manual and sexual, and being "palomas" (placed as beggars on the street by adults who only provide them housing), continues to be an issue in the Dominican Republic as children's involvement in these activities violates the compulsory educational law. There is a Code of Minors that requires 8 years of formal schooling (from 6-13), and after primary schooling, parents are not encouraged (legally or otherwise) to send their children to secondary school.
Dominican police regularly deport and brutally treat dark-skinned people, which mean that darker-complexioned Dominicans have been mistreated and expelled as well. Extreme prejudice exists against Haitians, and Haitians are living a modern day slave life, in terms of social treatment, wages, and abode. The Dominican Government refuses to recognize and document Dominican-born children with any kind of Haitian background.
In 2001, the Secretary of Education said that all children would be allowed to enter school, whether they had documentation or not. However, in reality, Haitian undocumented children had a much harder time enrolling in school than Dominican undocumented children. It is estimated that 40 percent of Haitian children have never attended school.
Some Haitians have tried to get Dominican families to "adopt" their children and send them to school, but many times the families keep these children as indentured servants and do not send then to school. This case is extremely significant because the Dominican Republic is a declared democracy and has promulgated policies of inclusion within the educational system.