Micely Diaz Espaillat

• Mobility and migration
• Growth, inequality and poverty
• Human Rights

• Dominican Republic

Thesis Title

The Impact of Anti-Haitianism on Bateyes in the Dominican Republic

Thesis Abstract

Bateyes are rural communities in the vicinity of the Dominican sugar mills, originally designed to house seasonal laborers known as braceros during the cane harvest, a work carried out by Haitian migrants for more than a century. Bateyes were established as precarious spaces without electricity, bathrooms, or kitchens. Braceros lived in overcrowded conditions and were far from health and educational centers. Despite their precariousness, they gradually became permanent settlements for Haitians and their families. Today, they have the lowest well-being indicators in the country due to the high unemployment rate, illiteracy, statelessness, hunger, and sexually transmitted diseases. The batey has traditionally been a place of geographic, social, and cultural segregation for Haitians, but it is also considered the safest space from police abuse and mass deportations. Their inhabitants have historically faced xenophobia and institutional racism from the anti-Haitian Dominican political and economic elite. In recent decades the Dominican state has enacted anti-Haitian laws such as Judgement 168-13 and Law 169-14 that violate fundamental human rights, impacting the reality of bateyes constantly. This research aims to understand how anti-Haitian policies continue to impact batey residents around the rights to health, work, and nationality from an intersectional perspective. It seeks to explore the responses and resistance mechanisms of its dwellers in the face of these threats. This investigation will adopt decoloniality and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks and analytical tools. It will follow a qualitative methodology through ethnography. Data collection methods will be done through participant observation, semi-structured and informal interviews, focus groups, life stories, and ethnography mapping in different bateyes located in the southwest region of the Dominican Republic. This research aims to broaden the current understanding of anti-Haitianism and bridge the knowledge gaps in the academy by reporting on the systemic discrimination that has not been documented yet and recent events that violate the rights of Haitian and their descendants.

Research Associate, Instituto de Investigación Social para el Desarrollo (Oct 2018-Present). 

Technical Project Officer, Fundación Friedrich Ebert (Jul 2020–Dec 2020).                         

In-Country Director, Courts for Kids (Sep 2017-Jun 2020).

Rapporteur Consultant, OXFAM (Dec 2017–Dec 2019).                                        

Technical Trainer in Education and Health Projects, Peace Corps (Aug 2015–Sep 2016).

Community Outreach Worker, Ciudad Alternativa (Jan 2015–Aug 2015).

University Research Assistant, Toronto Metropolitan University (Aug 2014–Dec 2014).

Technical Educator, Centro Montalvo (Aug 2012–Jul 2014).

-MA in International Peace Studies, United Nations University for Peace, Costa Rica, (2020-2022).

-MSc in International Development, University of Bath, United Kingdom (2016-2017).

-B.S. in Social Work, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2010-2016).

DAAD Scholar, German Academic Exchange Service, BIGS-DR (Germany, 2022-2026).
DAAD Scholar, German Academic Exchange Service (Costa Rica, 2020-2021).
ITEC Scholar, Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (India, 2020).
MASHAV Scholar, Israel Agency for International Development Cooperation (Israel, 2018).
Chevening Scholar, UK Government Scholarships (UK, 2016-2017).
ELAP Scholar, Emerging Leaders of the Americas Program (Canada, 2014).
UGRAD Scholar, United States Department of State (US, 2011-2012).

A Social Justice: Framework for Former Sugarcane Workers. The Case of Haitian Immigrants in the Dominican Republic

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

Professor Dr. Karoline Noack

Dr. Dennis Aviles

Resume Diaz Espaillat, Micely, Jan.2023..pdf [PDF]