IT HAS been noted that unlike the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza, the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) secretary general Irwin LaRocque was quite forthcoming with quick denunciation of a judgment by the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic that has effectively denationalized thousands of immigrants of Haitian descent living in that country.
However, while the CARICOM secretary general was quite forthcoming in warning of the grave implications for the Haitians who comprise a significant segment of the Dominican Republic’s population, it was the Permanent Council of the OAS that last week registered its concerns and decided to involve the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in the matter.
It is appreciated that CARICOM has a significant numerical presence among the bloc of countries comprising the 34-member OAS, to which Cuba is yet to return – once the United States ends its now 51-year-old trade and economic embargo against that Caribbean nation.
Further, it is also appreciated that one of CARICOM’s member states, St Vincent and the Grenadines, was quite instrumental in getting the OAS Permanent Council to discuss the horrible, distressing situation thousands of Haitians now face as a consequence of the court’s judgment. Once the judgment is implemented, immigrants of Haitian descent would be exposed to deportation – without the right of appeal.
The question of relevance is: since Haiti is a member of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic is part of the CARIFORUM group countries that maintain working relations with the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific bloc of states, why is it that our 15-member Community has not yet moved from rhetoric to direct engagement with the government in Santo Domingo on this most offensive court ruling that makes a mockery of internationally recognized human rights?
It so happens that the secretary general of CARICOM is also secretary general of CARIFORUM. It is known to be a tidy arrangement for dealing directly with the EU. So why the failure to date for CARICOM to request an urgent meeting at the highest level with the Dominican Republic to discuss the implications of the court’s ruling?
Granted that there is the need to respect the traditional norms of national sovereignty, it would be quite surprising to learn of any such objection from the the Dominican government.
For a start, the prevailing working arrangements between CARICOM and the Dominican Republic cannot be sustained should the status quo prevail since, as Mr LaRocque has rightly observed, the court’s judgment has plunged tens of thousands of Haitians into “a constitutional, legal and administrative vacuum”.
Well, it’s more than high time for CARICOM Heads of Government to signal their approval for the secretariat to formally engage the Dominican Republic in dialogue on this very ugly problem that needs to be speedily resolved.