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A batey is a village in the Dominican Republic that houses Haitian and Dominican sugar cane cutters and their families. The
housing conditions in the bateyes are inadequate; and homes are often dark, overcrowded, lacking furniture, and
without electricity or running water. The cane cutters work long hours in dangerous conditions, and they receive
little compensation for their labor. The children of cane cutters are often unable to obtain official birth
certificates, even if they are born in the D.R. Without such documentation, they have limited access to public
education and health services. Undocumented Haitian Dominicans are often forced out of the public education system
before high school; and therefore, their chances of developing a career outside of the cane fields remain slim.
Discrimination against Haitians and Haitian Dominicans is widespread, and although many Haitian Dominicans assimilate
into Dominican life and culture, others remain isolated and underserved.2
There are over 500 bateyes in the Dominican Republic, and conditions vary between bateyes depending on ownership. When
the State Sugar Council (CEA) went bankrupt in 1999, the government privatized many sugar cane mills, yet private ownership
failed to improve the living and working conditions in the bateyes. Some former CEA bateyes no longer function as part of
sugar cane plantations, yet the residents remain, and they are forced to seek work in the construction, tourist, and domestic
service industries. 2
While no one has exact information about the number of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent living
in the D.R., estimates range from 500,000 to almost two million, and it is believed that over 30 percent of the population is
without proper identity documentation. The Batey Relief Alliance Web site presents an excellent introduction into life in the
bateyes, and it offers further demographic information about batey residents. Please visit the BRA Web site
at for additional resources. MUDHA, the Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitianas, also published a helpful report about batey
conditions. The article can be read here. 3
For more information on batey life, click here.
1 James Ferguson, "Migration in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Beyond," Minority Rights Group International, July 2003. Online. Available: http://www.minorityrights.org/OnlineReports/OnlineReport.asp?ID=33. Accessed: June 24, 2004.
2 Bridget Wooding and Richard Moseley-Williams, "Needed but Unwanted: Haitian Immigrants and their families in the Dominican Republic," Catholic Institute for International Relations, January 2004. Can be accessed online from the CIIR bookshop at http://www.ciir.org/ciir.asp?section=bookshop.
3 Batey Relief Alliance, Our Work. Online. Available: http://www.bateyrelief.org/work.html. Accessed: July 19, 2004.
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