156. The Haitian temporary agricultural workers (braceros) who came to the Dominican Republic and all the members of their families who accompanied them were lodged in barracks, in settlements known as “bateyes.” Over time, the character of the bateyes changed and they became permanent communities, because the sugar corporations hired a certain number of agricultural workers on a permanent basis so that they could work year long, and other workers, including Dominican men and women, went to live in them. The bateyes became the home of first, second, and even third-generation families of Haitian descent. 114 However, according to documents published around the time of the events, it was common that individuals and sectors of the country’s population assumed that all the workers in the sugar cane plantations and all those who lived in bateyes were Haitians. 115 The Court has verified, based on documents published in 1996, 2001 and 2002, that basic public services in the bateyes were limited and the conditions of the highways were very poor, which meant that during the rainy season communication between the bateyes and the town could be cut off for several days. 116 Similarly, information covering the years 1986 to 2000 indicates that the rates of poverty and extreme poverty were much higher in the bateyes than the national average in the Dominican Republic. 117 Regarding more recent times, in 2013, the Inter-American Commission has stated that, during a visit, it verified the conditions of poverty, exclusion and discrimination endured by the inhabitants of the bateyes. It indicated that poverty affected the Dominicans of Haitian descent disproportionately, and that this was related to the obstacles they faced to access their identity documents 118 (infra paras. 163 to 166). 157. Expert witness Manuel Núñez Asencio explained that “[w]ith the decline in the sugar industry, the system […] gradually collapsed”; that, “in the 1990s, […] the Dominican Republic applied regulations reducing rates for construction workers, and this became a disincentive for Dominican workers, […] opening up a niche for the Haitians,” 119 and that, during that decade, as well as “in the [twenty-first] century, irregular Haitian migration [towards the Dominican Republic] has continued.” In 2000, Haitians and individuals born in Dominican territory of Haitian descent represented approximately 6% of the population of the Dominican Republic; this group is, in turn, divided into four sub-groups: “temporary workers, undocumented Haitians living permanently in the Dominican Republic, the children of Haitian immigrants born in the Dominican Republic, and political refugees.” 120 that this agreement “established the temporary nature of the work” and that “the Haitian State assumed the responsibility for registering the children of temporary workers who were in the Dominican Republic as its nationals.” Expert opinion provided by Manuel Núñez Asencio by affidavit on September 30, 2013 (file of preliminary objections, merits and reparations, tome III, fs. 1677 to 1696). 114 Amnesty International, A life in transit - The plight of Haitian migrants and Dominicans of Haitian Descent, AMR 27/001/2007 (file of annexes to the Merits report, annex 53, fs. 561 to 596). Similarly, expert witness Manuel Núñez Asencio, indicated that “[t]here are more than 500 bateyes in the Dominican Republic, basically villages with a Haitian population without any kind of documentation” (expert opinion provided by Manuel Núñez Asencio, provided by affidavit). 115 Human Rights Watch, Illegal People: Haitians and Dominico-Haitians in the Dominican Republic, April 4, 2002, p.10 (file of annexes to the motions and arguments brief, annex A01, fs. 2596 to 2629). 116 Case of the Yean and Bosico Girls v. Dominican Republic, para. 109.2. 117 World Bank, Report No. 21306-RD, “Dominican Republic – Poverty assessment: poverty in a high-growth economy 1986-2000.” 118 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Annex to the Press Release, Preliminary observations from the visit of the IACHRs Visit to the Dominican Republic, December 6, 2013. 119 The expert witness added, citing Labor Ministry documents from 2012, that “53% of construction workers are Haitians, compared to 47% Dominicans. On banana export plantations 63% of the workers are Haitians, compared to 37% Dominicans. Cf. Expert opinion provided by Manuel Núñez Asencio by affidavit. 120 National Coalition for Haitian Rights “Beyond the Bateyes,” August 1995 (file of annexes to the notions and arguments brief, annex A02, fs. 2631 to 2677). In his testimony, Samuel Martínez asserted that “[f]or 49