How the Dominican Republic made 200,000 people stateless

Michèle Stephenson shines a light on the deep-rooted racism in the Dominican Republic, which has rendered 200,000 people stateless. UK ONLY.

Co-Presented with The High Commission of Canada in the UK.

Young lawyer Rosa Iris is taking on the challenge of a lifetime, attempting to run for office in a society rife with state-sanctioned racism and longstanding electoral corruption, whilst simultaneously standing for human rights of her electorate.

The two countries of Haiti and Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola. In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army, based on anti-black hatred fomented by the Dominican government. Fast-forward to 2013, the Dominican Republic stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929. This ruling rendered more than 200,000 people stateless, without nationality and vulnerable in the country they called home.

In this dangerous climate, Rosa - herself a Dominican of Haitian descent - mounts a grassroots election campaign, fighting for social justice and fundamental human rights.

Director Michèle Stephenson traces the complex tributaries of history and present-day politics in Dominican Republic, observing the way that insidious state-level racism seeps into offices, living rooms and street protests.

This screening will be followed by a live online discussion with Stateless director Michèle Stephenson and UNHCR's Representative to the UK, Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, moderated by Simon Offord, lead curator for the exhibition 'Refugees: Forced to Flee' at IWM London.

AVAILABLE IN THE UK ONLY. To be able to ask questions in the Q&A start promptly at 7pm on Wednesday 14th April. If you are unable to make that time, but would like to watch a recorded version of the film + Q&A this will be available until 11:59pm Friday 16th April.

HOW TO WATCH: This programme will be broadcast live on Bertha Dochouse’s custom built streaming site. Once you have registered to attend, you will receive an email on the day of the event with further details about how to access our streaming site. If you are a Gmail user, please consider moving our emails to your Primary tab.