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The Dominican Republic is simultaneously a country of emigration and immigration. While there are variations in statistics, all point to similar patterns. As Dominicans move mainly to the East Coast of the United States and also lately to Spain, Haitians cross the border to the Dominican Republic both legally and irregularly in large numbers (Castles & Miller 1998, 8). Dominican emigration has increased constantly at least for half a century. The official annual migration rate for the Dominican Republic was minus 8,700 between 1960-65, increasing to an annual loss of 30,000 between the years 1995-2000 and maintaining that level ever since (ONE 2009a). The departure rate is estimated to have increased from 2.8 per thousand in 1960 to 105.7 per thousand in 2002. Following the economic crisis between 2002 and 2004 in the Dominican Republic, an expansive cycle in Dominican migration started again. (UN-INSTRAW 2006, 22.) Taking into account the influx of Haitians, irregular Dominican emigration and other statistical problems, the numbers may be much higher. Descriptively, over 49,000 Dominicans received legal permanent resident status in 2009 in the United States alone (U.S Embassy 2010).

A moderate estimate of Dominicans abroad was already close to a million in the year 2000 and is now situated somewhere between one and two million. In other words, 10- 20 percent of persons born in the Dominican Republic live abroad. The main destination of Dominican migrants is North America (77.9%), followed by Europe (10.7%), Latin America and the Caribbean (6.4%) and Asia (3.8%). The shares of the United States, Puerto Rico and Venezuela have been slightly declining since 1980 when migration to Europe, and particularly to Spain, started. (Gonzalez-Acosta 2007; HDR 2009, 148; IDB 2004; INDH 2005, 124; Suki 2004, 10.) A moderate estimate of legal Dominican- born residents in the United States was 348,000 in 1990 and 772,000 in 2008. For the same year, 1,330,000 persons were counted to be of Dominican origin. The Dominican Republic is in the top 10 of sending countries for all foreign-born residents in the United States. In 2009 it ranked already fifth in sending legal migrants, just behind Mexico,

China, the Philippines and India, all with populations many times greater than the Dominican Republic. (DR1 20.7. 2010; Grieco 2004; US Census Bureau 2008a, b.) In Spain, the number of Dominicans was 6,700 in 1990, and over 125,000 in 2008. The Dominican community in Spain differs in that it is 61 % female and mainly of rural origin, while migration to the United States is led more by middle-class urban men. (Hoy 14.3.2008; UN-INSTRAW 2006, 24.)

The migratory flows can be explained by historical, political, economic and social factors. Travelling of Dominicans was very much restricted under the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (1930-1961). He only gave passports and visas to his few trustees, even though some political refugees managed to leave the country as well. Emigration first became significant in the 1960s. Since then, Dominican emigration can be divided into two phases, characterised by different volumes and factors affecting departures from the country. The first period between 1961 and 1979 laid the foundations of modern Dominican emigration when around 300,000 persons moved abroad, mainly to the United States. Dominican-American relations date back to the 19th century when the option of annexing the island to the United States was considered. The United States occupied the whole island between 1916 and 1924. Later, the assassination of the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in 1961 led to political instability that culminated in a civil war and a military intervention by the United States in 1965. (Haggerty 1989; UN-INSTRAW 2006, 22.)

The fall of the Trujillo dictatorship eased the restrictions on travelling abroad and started a policy of open emigration by the Dominican state that has been in place ever since. The fear of a “new Cuba” and changes in US migration legislation in 1965 also set a policy of open migration policy towards Dominican immigration to the United States. Geopolitical concerns of the United States have been cited by many as an exceptionally clear start of Dominican emigration. Annual migration from the Dominican Republic was only a few hundred persons per year before 1961, but after the fall of the dictatorship it increased to over 10,000 persons per year. During the authoritarian presidency of Joaquín Balaguer 1966-1978 that followed the US military intervention in 1965, Dominicans continued to escape socioeconomic instability and political persecution. Changes in the productive system that led to urbanisation and imbalances in the labour market were other internal factors that played a role in

increased Dominican emigration. (Castles & Miller 2009, 175; Massey et al. 1994, 727- 728; UN-INSTRAW 2006, 22.)

The second period running from 1980 to the present marks the consolidation and expansion of Dominican migration. Around one million Dominicans are counted to have left the country during this period. Similar to other countries in the region, changes in the international context and the integration of the Dominican Republic to the world economy resulted in economic restructuring processes. The economic crisis also started because of changes in the United States‟ sugar import quotas (WB 1990, 122). The economy of the Dominican Republic shifted from an agro-export and import substitution model to one based in services such as tourism and industrial duty-free zones. This caused major changes in the labour market, including increased unemployment. Also, drastic structural adjustment programmes were put in place in the move towards a new economic model, resulting in continued currency devaluation, inflationary processes and eroded public services. Inequality increased and the quality of life was reduced for most Dominicans. During the second half of the 1980s, social protests increased along with economic problems and the largest wave of Dominicans to date migrated between 1987 and 1994. At the same time, the dynamics of the migration process itself started to show especially as families reunited in the United States. (UN- INSTRAW 2006, 22-23.)

During the second half of the 1990s the Dominican Republic experienced significant economic growth rates, which showed in a decreased rate of migration though not in gross departures. More restrictive migration policies in destination countries played their role as well. Still, between 1990 and 2000, the number of Dominican migrants to the United States almost doubled. The economic crisis experienced by the country between 2002 and 2004 started a new wave of migration from the country. The effects of the current global economic crisis cannot be fully assessed yet, but no major declines have been reported in Dominican migration. (UN-INSTRAW 2006, 22-23; US Embassy 2010.)

Migration has had significant effects on Dominican society, demographics, economy, politics and culture. Almost 12 percent of GDP4 of the Dominican Republic consists of inflows of remittances, and the country is among the top remittance recipient countries in the developing world. In 2004, 59 percent of remittances originated in the United States, 30 percent in Europe and 9 percent in Puerto Rico. (Dominican Today 10.6.2009; Suki 2004, 10.) Remittances sent by Dominican migrants have been growing constantly for decades. The growth was fairly moderate until 1993, but between 1993 and 2003 the remittances tripled from 721 million US dollars to 2.061 billion US dollars. An estimated 3.414 billion dollars in remittances were sent to the country in 2007. The average money transfer is 289 dollars 12-15 times per year. (HDR 2009, 160; UN- INSTRAW 2006, 28-31.)

Dominican migrants have also traditionally been active in home country politics. One of the main Dominican political parties, Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, was established in New York City in 1940s, and Dominicans are known to campaign in the city. After a rather lengthy campaign by Dominican migrants, the constitutional and legal reform in the mid-1990s gave Dominican citizens living abroad the right to vote and the possibility of dual citizenship. The fact that Leonel Fernandez, the current president of the Dominican Republic, grew up in New York City describes the situation. (Faist 1997a, 213; Gonzalez-Acosta 2007.)