Santo Domingo.-Amnesty International urged the Dominican Government to guarantee access to health services for Haitian citizens, people of Haitian descent and other migrants, and to immediately revoke the protocol that links medical care in public hospitals with immigration status.
The approach is part of a letter sent to the president of the Senate, Ricardo de los Santos, by Dr. Hans Buchner, representative of Group 1190 of the German Section of Amnesty International.
In the document, the organization warns that the so-called “Procedure for the management of health services for foreign patients”, launched on April 6, 2025, places migrants at risk of arrest and deportation and constitutes an illegal obstacle to accessing medical care.
The protocol requires international users to present a passport, visa or immigration documents issued by the Dominican authorities, as well as proof of address, as a condition to be admitted to a health center.
Amnesty points out that these measures, which according to the Government seek to “control the avalanche of patients in public hospitals”, disproportionately affect Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent and limit the universal right to health, enshrined in international treaties ratified by the country.
The entity also maintains that the protocol erodes public health efforts, generates fear among migrant patients and worsens access gaps among vulnerable groups.
The organization also argues that migrants saturate the Dominican health system, pointing out that the overload of the system is not due to the presence of Haitians, but to the “historical insufficient investment of the Dominican State in infrastructure, personnel and medical services.”
“This protocol is a veil used by President Luis Abinader to hide the fact that his administration and previous ones have not invested enough to guarantee the right to health,” the letter indicates.
The least investment
—1— Regional
Amnesty recalls that the Dominican Republic is among the countries with the lowest public investment in health in Latin America and the Caribbean.
—2— Measurements
The organization asks the Dominican Senate and the competent authorities to take “all administrative, political and legal measures.”
