Father Christopher Hartley, on December 1st, asked the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), for its acronym, to investigate other sugar companies in the same way that was applied to the Roman Central.
Hartley requested the disclosure of the findings found in the Seventh Report on the Sugar Consortium of Industrial Companies (CAEI) of San Pedro de Macorís and the Central Sugar Consortium (CAC) in Barahona.
In a letter sent to the agency, the priest stated that “the sanction of preventing the entry of sugar into American territory seeks to initiate the search for justice for the migrant workers from the bateyes.”
At the same time, it urged CBP to request more information not published by the United States Department of Labor (USDOL), in order to learn about the Seventh Periodic Review Report made by that body.
In the letter, the diocesan representative of the Catholic Church stated, ”Although CBP obviously identified indicators of forced labor in the case of Central Romana, these patterns permeate the sugar industry in the Dominican Republic. The Sugar Consortium of Industrial Companies (CAEI) and Consorcio Azucarero Central (CAC) were part of the 2022 USDOL Review, together with Central Romana,” Hartley pointed out.
Likewise, he said that these private reference companies “were not identified in the report” with respect to the specific findings regarding human rights and labor violations as well.
Hartley served in a San Pedro de Macorís Church for more than 10 years.
In that order, the constant complaints about the conditions of the workers in the bateyes of that province where he served as a missionary earned him his departure from the country in 2006.
Below is a document from Father Christopher Hartley
