This post is also available in: Kreyol
Whether in Haiti or in Haitian communities outside of the country, Haitian workers are not being protected, and are suffering the consequences.
Last week, Haiti’s prime minister erroneously claimed a supposed “early victory” over the Covid-19 pandemic in the country and the reopening of factories. In the days that followed, footage of crowds of Haitian factory workers pouring into work in close quarters without any protective equipment surfaced on the internet. A recent report mapping Covid-19 cases in New York revealed that a number of the zip codes where the numbers are the highest are heavily populated by immigrants from the Caribbean. A large percentage of the Haitian immigration population are service workers, and are therefore at high risk in this moment. Whether in Haiti or in Haitian communities outside of the country, Haitian workers are not being protected, and are suffering the consequences. Unfortunately, the situation is no different in our neighboring country where thousands of Haitians work in sugar cane fields and are currently extremely vulnerable to this virus.
Covid-19 has already killed more than 250 people in the Dominican Republic with a reported 5,300 infected. Haitians living in batey in the Dominican Republic are the most mistreated in Dominican society. I was last in a batey in January 2019 to work on an episode entitled “The Sweet Deal”, from the show Rotten on Netflix. While there, I spent a lot of time interacting with my fellow Haitian workers, many of whom were sick. Most could not identify their illness because they have no access to medical care. “Bateys” are isolated; built only for Haitian farm workers working in sugarcane fields. The workers live in shacks and have access to the bare minimum of water and food.
To date, there hasn’t been any reports on the conditions in the bateys during the pandemic. But, what we know is that there are more than 40,000 workers, plus their families living in bateys throughout different regions in the Dominican Republic.
Jesus Nunez, the director of the National Union of Batey Workers said the following, “Batey workers are not a priority for the Dominican government. Workers must continue to work without appropriate personal protective equipment because they cannot afford not to work. Neither the companies nor the government have taken steps to protect workers during this pandemic. I am not aware of any workers who have fallen sick as of yet, but I believe that it is possible. The Batey are vulnerable because people are living on top of each other, and the virus will worsen the conditions. I am applying pressure to force the government and the companies to take measures to protect workers, but I have no reassurance that they will take those measures. I believe it is important for people to pay attention to the situation in batey during this pandemic because the workers and their families are extremely vulnerable.”
Despite the global pandemic, the Dominican Republic has continued its daily deportations of Haitians back to Haiti. It is important for both governments to work together to create a cohesive plan to fight against this pandemic. Without such bilateral coordination, Covid-19 will wreak havoc in the bordering towns within both countries.
Haitians in the Dominican Republic, especially the farm workers, are victims of discrimination and violence. It is important at this moment in time for national and international human rights organizations to put pressure on the Dominican government and the employers.
(This post was originally written in Kreyòl)
