Santo Domingo, RD.
Milaide Nader was an administrator in Venezuela, in the Dominican Republic she fixes eyebrows in a mobile place: she is undocumented and cannot access a formal job, but a government regularization program can change her situation.
Some 115,000 Venezuelans live irregularly in the Dominican Republic, a country of almost 11 million people.
Nader arrived in Santo Domingo three years ago fleeing the crisis in his country. He came in as a tourist and stayed.
Without papers you cannot open a bank account or access social security. For the Dominican state, it does not exist.
“Many doors are closed to us, we can’t work on what we want,” Nader, 35, a native of Maracaibo (Zulia state, western Venezuela), told AFP. “Not having papers (…) doesn’t give us a chance.”
“Most Venezuelans here are professionals and we want to practice what we study,” he adds next to the walking place where he fixes eyebrows and places false eyelashes: a chair crossed on the sidewalk of an avenue in Santo Domingo.
The government announced in January a “normalization plan” that kicked off this week with a census of undocumented people and that envisages, first and foremost, regularizing their immigration status with the payment of a one-time fine of about $ 115.
This step will give the person 60 days to leave the country or apply for a work visa before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, renewable every year, and subsequently an identity document.
The process, which does not stipulate a permanent residency process, costs a total of about $ 300 per person, more than a minimum wage of $ 230.
It is a high sum for many of these migrants who normally get poorly paid jobs.
Dilcia Rojas, 40, worked for example as a maid for less than the minimum wage. Today he sells juices on the street next to his 10-year-old son, hoping to “be able to get out and get back in without any problems” in the Dominican Republic with this process.
“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 out,” he says.
– “Qualified migration” –
Migration is a sensitive issue in the Dominican Republic, especially in Haiti, a neighbor with whom it shares the island of L’Espanyola and with which it maintains a historically difficult relationship.
The government of President Luis Abinader even proposed a gate that divides the border of the two countries to reduce the illegal passage of Haitians, the main migrant community on the island, which also arouses high rejection among locals. .
This is not the case with Venezuelans, says the director general of Migration, Enrique García, assuring that the regularization plan has been welcomed.
“The Dominican has a concept that Venezuelan migration is a skilled migration, that they are people who come to contribute to the country,” he told AFP.
Eleana Vásquez, a 42-year-old graphic designer, wants to “give stability” to her family through the process. She and her husband, who is a mechanic, work at home. Between the two they earn $ 500; her 23-year-old daughter, also a designer, is unemployed and her other son, 16, is in school.
“Our stay is in the medium and long term,” she says hopefully this process will result in a permanent residence, something ruled out by authorities at the moment.
Nader, who lost the characteristic Maracaibo accent and has a more Dominican-like one, looks to the future with enthusiasm. Think about “having the privilege of enjoying health insurance and all that stuff.”
“Get a better job, open bank accounts, have more profits,” lists Evelyn Nieto, a 38-year-old teacher who also makes a living fixing eyebrows. “Being able to travel to my country,” he continues, “to see my family miss them so much.”