Santo Domingo, RD.
Milaide Nader was an administrator in Venezuela, in the Dominican Republic she raises eyebrows in a street stall: she has no papers and cannot find a formal job, but a government regularization program could change her situation.
About 115,000 Venezuelans live illegally in the Dominican Republic, a country of nearly 11 million inhabitants.
Nader arrived in Santo Domingo three years ago, fleeing the crisis in his country. He entered as a tourist and stayed.
Without papers, he cannot open a bank account or gain access to social security. It does not exist for the Dominican state.
“A lot of doors are closed to us, we can’t work on what we want,” Nader, 35, a resident of Maracaibo (Zulia state, western Venezuela) told AFP. “Because we don’t have papers (…) they don’t give us the chance.”
“Most Venezuelans here are professionals and we want to practice what we study,” he adds next to the street stall where he fixes eyebrows and sets false eyelashes: a chair crossed on the sidewalk of an avenue in Santo Domingo.
The government announced a “normalization plan” in January that began this week with a census of undocumented immigrants and is primarily considering regularizing their immigration status with the payment of a single fine of about $ 115.
This step gives the person 60 days to leave the country or apply for a work visa at the State Department, which can be renewed every year, and later an ID.
The process, which does not prescribe a permanent residency process, costs a total of about $ 300 per person, more than a minimum wage of 230.
It is a high amount for many of these migrants who normally find low-wage jobs.
For example, Dilcia Rojas, 40, worked as a housemaid for less than the minimum wage. Today, he and his 10-year-old son sell juices on the street, hoping to “leave and re-enter with this process” to the Dominican Republic.
“It’s my concern because I have another child in Venezuela and I haven’t seen him for three years because I can’t go outside,” he says.
– “Skilled Migration” –
Migration is a sensitive topic in the Dominican Republic, especially from Haiti, a neighbor with which it shares the island of Hispaniola and with which it maintains a historically difficult relationship.
President Luis Abinader’s government even proposed a fence separating the borders of both countries to reduce illegal passage for Haitians, the island’s main migrant community, which is also leading to widespread rejection among the locals.
This is not the case with Venezuelans, says the director general of migration, Enrique García, who assures that the regularization plan has been received with good eyes.
“The Dominican has a concept that Venezuelan migration is a skilled migration, that it is people who contribute to the country,” he told AFP.
Eleana Vásquez, a 42-year-old graphic designer, wants to use the process to “give stability” to her family. She and her mechanic husband work from home. Together they earn $ 500; her 23-year-old daughter, also a designer, is unemployed and her other son, 16, is in school.
“Our stay is for the medium and long term,” she says, hoping that this process will lead to permanent residence, something that the authorities have for the time being ruled out.
Nader, who lost the characteristic Maracaibo accent and still has one that resembles the Dominican, looks to the future with enthusiasm. Think of “having the privilege of having health insurance and all that.”
“Get a better job, open bank accounts, have more benefits,” said Evelyn Nieto, a 38-year-old teacher who also makes a living fixing eyebrows. “To be able to travel to my country,” he continues, “to see my family, I miss them very much.”