Dear Editor,

The following is an open to letter to Governor General Sir Patrick Allen and Prime Minister Andrew Holness:

The Jamaica Peace Council views with concern the conferring of the Order of Excellence by the Governor General Sir Patrick Allen on the president of the Dominican Republic Danilo Medina Sanchez on Monday, November 27, during his one-day state visit to Jamaica.

We are concerned because President Danilo Medina Sanchez heads a Government that has been implementing a heartless and racist policy which has led to mass deportation of nearly 200,000 people of Haitian heritage. The individuals deported were either born in the Dominican Republic or have lived there for most of their lives. This is even more deplorable because of the circumstances in Haiti, in which there has not been a full recovery from the horrific 2010 earthquake and other subsequent natural disasters resulting from hurricanes. With 1.5 million Haitians having been rendered homeless by the 2010 earthquake, and with a vast number still living in tents or on the streets, Haiti is in no position to cope with the mass deportations from the Dominican Republic. Neither is Haiti prepared to deal with the social and economic pressure of the impending deportations from the United States of America.

This inhumane action on the part of the Government of the Dominican Republic is based on a ruling of the Constitutional Court which decreed on September 25, 2013 that some 300,000 dark-skinned individuals born in the Dominican Republic of Haitian parentage were to be stripped of their Dominican citizenship and would be subject to deportation. The ruling of the Constitutional Court is a crime against humanity which has been condemned by the Caribbean Community, the Organization of American States, Inter-American Human Rights Commission, Inter-[American Court of Human Rights, and Amnesty International.

We urge the governor general and Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who was in turn invested into the Dominican Republic’s Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella in the rank of Grand Cross with Gold Breast Star, to urge Medina Sanchez to take immediate action to repeal the racist ruling of his Constitutional Court which has rendered 300,000 black-skinned people stateless.

Statelessness is a matter of great concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Steering Committee

Jamaica Peace Council

jamaicapeacecouncil@gmail.com