Dominicans with no ties at all with Haiti.” 147 The Special Rapporteur and the independent expert heard statements by Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent indicating that “[…] “the most important passport is skin colour. Those with light skin rarely have a problem. Those who are black and look poor face problems all the time, no matter whether Haitian or Dominican. If you are black, you are Haitian.” 148 The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has also expressed its concern regarding the detention of documented and undocumented migrants of Haitian origin, and their collective deportations to Haiti, without any guarantees of due process. 149 Meanwhile, the InterAmerican Commission has advised that it has received reports that, before they are removed from Dominican territory, deportees are held in establishments in which they receive little or no food during their time of confinement and, in some case, have been beaten by Dominican authorities. 150 The Commission has also stated that the expulsions conducted by the Dominican Republic were based on identity control on the basis of the racial profile of those detained, and that the Dominican authorities merely observe the way of walking, the lifestyle and the color of the skin, which they consider to be darker, to determine whether individuals are Haitians or descendants of Haitians. 151 169. The specific characteristics of these expulsions have been described. For example, it has been pointed out that, even when they are decided on an individual basis, they are carried out with such haste that individuals are not given the chance to contact family members or contest the expulsion order. The mass expulsions have frequently been conducted in overcrowded buses; these bus journeys create unsafe conditions that, at times, have resulted in serious injuries. 152. Those expelled from Dominican Republic are given no opportunity to contact their families, retrieve their belongings, collect their paychecks, or in any way prepare for departure. Dropped off at the border and told to walk to the other side, they typically arrive in Haiti with little or no money, indeed, often with nothing more than the clothes on their back. They may have to beg for food and for a place to sleep. 153 147 United Nations, Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Doudou Diène, and the independent expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall, para. 44. 148 United Nations, Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Doudou Diène, and the independent expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall, para. 44. The Special Rapporteur and the independent expert were informed of cases where black aliens, with no ties at all with the Dominican Republic or Haiti, but happening to be in the border area had also been threatened, just because of the color of their skin, with deportation to Haiti. 149 United Nations, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the ninth periodic report of the Dominican Republic, para. 13. CERD/C/DOM/CO/12, 8 June 2007, para. 13 (file of annexes to the motions and arguments brief, annex A04, fs. 3083 to 3090). 150 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Report on the situation of human rights in the Dominican Republic, October 7, 1999, para. 328. 151 In this regard, even though he did not present information that would confirm or deny a practice of immigration control based on racial profiles, expert witness Fernando I. Ferrán Brú stated that “it must be recognized that, owing to the geographical situation [of the country], most of those entering [the Dominican Republic] come from Haiti, whose population has predominantly black phenotypic traits. Since Haitian migration to Dominican territory is massive, and most immigrants arrive clandestinely and without documents, it is logical that the immigration authorities focus on that group of foreign immigrants. […] Contrario sensu, it would be impractical for the State’s immigration policy to address its efforts to limit illegal and undocumented immigration towards groups with phenotypic traits of Orientals or white Caucasians” (cf. Expert opinion provided by Fernando Ignacio Ferrán Brú by affidavit). 152 Amnesty International, A life in transit - The plight of Haitian migrants and Dominicans of Haitian Descent. Expert witness Bridget Wooding stated that, during the expulsions, “there is no due process, those who are going to be expelled are not allowed a hearing. People can be taken from their homes in the middle of the night, without a court order” (cf. Expert opinion provided by Bridget Wooding during the public hearing). 153 Human Rights Watch, Illegal People: Haitians and Dominico-Haitians in the Dominican Republic, p. 11 56