Abstract of the Presentation:
The paper presented by Micely Díaz Espaillat examines the structural barriers faced by older Haitian sugarcane workers in the Dominican Republic when attempting to access their right to a pension after decades of labour under exploitative conditions. The study aims to analyse how institutional practices, legal shortcomings, and the lack of political will contribute to the exclusion of this population from social protection systems.
The findings indicate that state bureaucracy functions as a mechanism of exclusion, hindering the acquisition of essential documentation and sustaining opaque procedures that deliberately marginalise Haitian workers. Additionally, the persistence of discriminatory norms perpetuates a historical pattern of racial segregation and socio-economic vulnerability. The study concludes that the denial of pension access is not an isolated administrative issue, but rather part of a deeply rooted system of exclusion that reproduces poverty and results in the sustained violation of the fundamental rights of the Haitian migrant population.