Nations such as the Commonwealth of Dominica, and in the Caribbean in general, have become increasingly popular for those seeking asylum throughout the world, demanding an understanding of refugees throughout Caribbean nations. Here on ten facts about Dominican refugees.

1. Dominica does not actually have a significant refugee problem. In 2015, The World Bank recorded there to be 38 Dominican refugees. Comparatively, it reported that there were almost five million Syrian refugees, and even 4,832 American refugees, showing the Dominican refugee population to be rather small.
2. Because the population of Dominican refugees is so small, there is little to no data about them.
3. Dominica is not involved in any military operations and does not actually have a regular military force. Dominica’s only security force is its Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force. Due to the lack of internal and external military conflicts, there are no Dominican refugees fleeing from war.
4. It is likely that refugees from neighboring islands use Dominica as a stop along their routes. The UNCHR believes Dominica could be a “point of transit” for Haitians traveling to the French territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
5. In 2016, 26 people from Dominica applied for asylum in the United States, United Kingdom and France. All were rejected.
6. The government of Dominica is committed to providing the necessary provisions to those seeking asylum in Dominica, but due to common economic migration movements throughout the Caribbean, as nationals of different islands travel to work, it is difficult for the government to know who is a refugee that needs aid. The UNCHR has highlighted this issue as key to the protection of refugees seeking asylum in Dominica.
7. It has been proposed that Dominica could serve as the location for a “refugee nation,” an internationally recognized state for the settlement of refugees. Jason Buzi leads Refugee Nation, a project aimed at petitioning the UNCHR to charter a new country for refugees. Buzi proposed Dominica as an example of a prospective location for a refugee nation because it is an island with a small population that could accept a great influx of people. The goal of Refugee Nation is to establish a new nation by 2020.
8. The numbers of refugees seeking asylum in the Caribbean continued to rise between mid-2015 and mid-2016. It has been shown that there was a 257 percent increase in asylum seekers in the Caribbean during this time period. Most of these refugees come from other Caribbean nations such as Cuba and Haiti, but others come from Venezuela, Syria, Sri Lanka and other South American, African, Asian and Middle Eastern nations.
9. The current influx in refugees to the Caribbean poses issues for small Caribbean governments that have limited resources to support refugees, as the UNCHR highlighted with Dominica. However, refugees also bring skills and manpower to the economy, making them positive additions to small Caribbean countries.
10. Refugees travel to the Caribbean seeking asylum due to the historical culture of immigration and mixed communities within the Caribbean, and the high level of human development in many Caribbean countries. Dominica is 96th, ranking high for quality of life on the UNDP’s Human Development Index.

– Mary Luft
Photo: Flickr