Change someone’s fate
In the Dominican Republic, hundreds of thousands of people of Haitian and Afro-descendant origin have been denaturalized as a consequence of the Dominican Constitutional Court ruling, popularly known as “La Sentencia” which equated their legal status to that of children of transient foreign nationals. This measure left approximately [insert number] people stateless, that is, without recognized nationality or legal protection, violating an essential attribute of personality and severely affecting their human rights.
These families, who mainly live in Haitian bateyes, endure overcrowded and precarious conditions, with limited access to basic services and fundamental rights.
Furthermore, the situation is worsened by the mass deportations carried out by the Dominican government, averaging 16,000 people expelled weekly. At the same time, the issuance of fifteen restrictive measures, including the militarization of hospitals, deepens the confinement and repression of these communities. The bateyes become open-air prisons, trapping families in a cycle of exclusion and abandonment. As a result, these people cannot go out to work, perpetuating their situation of poverty and marginalization.
Our Response
At WTTW, we work to restore dignity and recognize nationality as a fundamental attribute of personality for these stateless communities.
Our approach begins with direct work alongside leaders and families in the bateyes, starting with 10 families in the La Unión batey, near Puerto Plata. Through legal, social, and community support, we seek to build support networks that raise awareness of this issue and generate concrete actions for the respect and recognition of their rights.
Simultaneously, we promote spaces for political advocacy, public awareness, and collaboration with local and international organizations to denounce the statelessness crisis and the precarious living conditions in the bateyes.
The project aspires to transform the exclusion scenario into one of dignity, justice, and access to rights for these families, using a humanitarian, legal, and cultural perspective that breaks through the invisible walls of discrimination and lack of protection.
How can you help?
- By donating: we need to raise $250.00 per person to implement comprehensive support.
- Share this story on your social networks or among media and people committed to human rights.
- Participate in our awareness campaigns, events, and advocacy actions to highlight the situation of stateless families.
- Support our legal and community support programs through donations or volunteering.
- Invite us to present this project at universities, cultural spaces, festivals, or public forums to raise awareness and build alliances.
“Together, we can break the chains of statelessness and forge pathways of identity, dignity, and justice for thousands of families trapped in legal and social invisibility.”