At NYU symposium, panelists call for reparative justice and stronger protections for Haitians abroad

Just ahead of the bicentennial of Haiti’s independence debt to France, New York University hosted a symposium on April 13 that brought together  Haitian and international advocates to explore tangible solutions through the lens of reparative justice. 

The opening panel, “No Haven is Safe,” examined the legal and administrative barriers that limit protections for Haitian migrants abroad and featured four legal and human rights experts from around the globe who shared their insights on the systemic hurdles Haitians face in seeking asylum and resettlement.

Ninaj Raoul, co-director of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, a nonprofit supporting Haitians fleeing persecution, recounted her experience as a linguist specialist at Guantanamo Bay during the early 1990s. Raoul interpreted conversations between asylum officers and Haitian refugees, helping determine whether applicants had a credible fear of persecution if they returned to Haiti. 

“The interviews were pretty arbitrary – they pulled inspection officers off the border and brought all kinds of immigration employees to do these interviews, and they didn’t have information about the country conditions that they needed to understand what Haitians were fleeing to determine fairly whether or not they should continue on to apply for asylum,” said Raoul. 

She also challenged the U.S. interdiction policy at the time, which prohibited detaining Haitians within 12 miles of the Haitian coast. In practice, however, Raoul said many refugees were captured much closer. 

“People that were transporting charcoal from one port to another, or people who were just fishing were picked up,” she said.

Panelists also directed sharp criticism at the Dominican Republic, chiding Haiti’s next-door neighbor as unwelcoming at times despite the two countries’ proximity to each other. 

“In all the international forums, we see the Dominican Republic speaking for Haiti, but I’m always asking myself, ‘How are you talking about solidarity for another country where you are killing the people of this nation on your own land?,’” said Ana Maria Belique of Movimiento Reconocido, an organization advocating for the human rights of Dominican-born Haitians. “Why don’t you start this solidarity with the way you act with the people who are in your country?” 

Others echoed Belique concerns, citing the Dominican government’s controversial constitutional ruling to end birthright citizenship for Haitians in the country who were born between 1929 and 2010. 

“Because of that, we are not respected as Dominicans,” said Altagracia Jean Joseph, founder and executive director of Fundación Código Humano, a human rights group focused on community development. 

Speaking in Creole, Jean Joseph described how Dominican-born Haitians are often referred to as “second-class” Dominicans, a label that strips them of economic and social protections. 

Bringing it back to the conversation of reparations, panelists emphasized the need for resources to support displaced Haitians. 

“The interviews were pretty arbitrary – they pulled inspection officers off the border and brought all kinds of immigration employees to do these interviews,” said Raoul.

“And they didn’t have information about the country conditions that they needed to understand what Haitians were fleeing to determine fairly whether or not they should continue on to apply for asylum,” she added.

“We have to remember what has forced people to migrate and why we are asking for reparations for things that happened a long time ago,” said Belique, noting that migration issues are often rooted in colonialism. 

Jean Joseph raised a pivotal question about the future: If France were to return Haiti’s independence debt, would the nation have the structures in place to manage it effectively?

“Do we know who has the capacity to receive this money and not spend it?” asked Jean Joseph. “We have to have a plan and a way to build the Haiti that we need.” 
“All the countries in the world who are mistreating Haitians, they do this because they know we don’t have a home to go back to,” said Belique.

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