## Facts

- Between 1999 and 2000, Dominican authorities conducted arrests and expulsions of persons perceived as Haitian, including Dominican nationals of Haitian descent, long-term residents, and undocumented Haitian migrants.
- Multiple victims were detained in group operations and removed to Haiti without individualized determinations of nationality, immigration status, or family and social ties to the Dominican Republic.
- Many were denied the chance to retrieve belongings, contact relatives, obtain counsel, or present identity documents; some documents were confiscated, destroyed, or not recognized.
- Families were affected as family units and children were expelled, including Dominican-born children who had never lived in Haiti and did not speak Haitian Creole.
- The events occurred amid a broader pattern of large-scale deportations and differential treatment based on appearance, language, skin color, and perceived Haitian origin.
- Proceedings began before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which later referred the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for judgment on preliminary objections, merits, reparations, and costs.

## Issues

1. Whether the State carried out prohibited collective expulsions and arbitrary removals by expelling groups without individualized procedures and meaningful review.
2. Whether denial, destruction, or non-recognition of identity documents violated rights to juridical personality, a name, and nationality, including for persons entitled to Dominican nationality.
3. Whether detention, transport, and expulsion conditions violated the right to humane treatment, particularly for children.
4. Whether the State violated rights of the child and protection of the family by failing to consider the best interests of children and by separating or destabilizing family units.
5. Whether the expulsions and documentation practices were discriminatory on grounds including race, color, and national origin.
6. Whether lack of hearings, written decisions, counsel, and effective remedies violated judicial guarantees and judicial protection in the immigration enforcement context.

## Decision

- The Court rejected the State’s preliminary objections.
- The Court found the Dominican Republic internationally responsible for multiple violations of the American Convention on Human Rights arising from summary, group-based expulsions and related practices.
- The Court held that the expulsions constituted prohibited collective expulsions and were arbitrary due to the absence of individualized assessment and procedural safeguards.
- The Court found violations tied to denial or destruction of identity documentation, including rights to juridical personality, a name, and nationality, as well as freedom of movement and residence.
- The Court found violations of judicial guarantees and judicial protection because victims lacked access to hearings and effective remedies to contest detention and expulsion.
- The Court found violations connected to discrimination and failures to protect children and family unity.
- The Court ordered individual reparations (documentation and nationality recognition where appropriate, compensation, and measures facilitating return) and structural measures (procedure reforms, training, and publication of the judgment).

## Legal Principles

- Collective expulsions are prohibited; expulsion decisions must be individualized and based on an objective assessment of each person’s circumstances.
- Immigration enforcement must provide due process safeguards, including an opportunity to be heard, access to counsel where necessary, written decisions, and effective review.
- Confiscation, destruction, or denial of identity documentation can violate rights to juridical personality and name by impairing legal recognition as a rights-holder.
- The right to nationality bars arbitrary deprivation and requires State practices that avoid statelessness; parental migratory status cannot justify depriving children of nationality when domestic law confers it at birth.
- Discrimination based on perceived national origin, race, color, language, or appearance violates the duty to respect and ensure rights without discrimination and taints related state actions.
- Children are entitled to special protection; removal decisions must account for the best interests of the child and protect family unity.
- Domestic legal measures or interpretations cannot be invoked to justify noncompliance with international human-rights obligations.

## Conclusion

The Inter-American Court held that the Dominican Republic’s group-based detentions and expulsions, coupled with discriminatory profiling and denial of identity and nationality documentation, violated multiple Convention rights, and it required both victim-specific relief and structural reforms to prevent recurrence.


Expelled Dominicans & Haitians v. Dominican Republic, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 282 (2014)