23. Since September 2021, an increase in cases of detention of people in vulnerable situations has been noticed,92 despite the fact that the immigration detention of minors and pregnant or lactating women is prohibited by law.93 Between January and November 2022, at least 1,800 unaccompanied children and adolescents were deported.94 This situation has continued in 2023. Recently, the BBC has reported the case of a 15-year-old unaccompanied teenager who has been deported seven times to Haiti.95 In the same period, a Haitian CSO reported receiving ten children and adolescents every day, including a Dominican teenager.96 For example, during an immigration operation carried out in November 2022, DGM agents took the daughters of a mother who had temporarily fled to a nearby church.97 In January 2022, six minors between 4 and 11 years old were intercepted on the way to school and then deported without adult accompaniment.98 In June 2023, a mother was detained and transported in a DGM transport while her baby was hanging on the outside of the bars of the moving transport.99 Likewise, in a violent raid in a batey, two unaccompanied minors were arrested by some soldiers.100 Some children and adolescents have reported that they were detained in the Haina detention centre in undignified conditions.101 The lack of shelters certified by CONANI for children and adolescents on the Dominican side of the border is highlighted 102 and the need for permanent training expressed by public and community institutions on the rights of children and adolescents in situations of human mobility.103 24. Likewise, pregnant or lactating women of Haitian origin have been targets of arrests and deportations. In November 2021, authorities deported hundreds of pregnant women.104 According to the Support Group for Returnees and Refugees (GARR), 1,463 Haitian women were deported to Haiti in 2022.105 The IACHR expressed its concern about these expulsions and urged the State to respect the principle of non-refoulement, highlighting the case of a Haitian mother arrested in a hospital, separated from her baby and detained for four days.106 Likewise, in September 2023, four rapporteurs and three groups of United Nations experts condemned these deportations, highlighting the risk of deterring Haitian migrant women in an irregular situation from going to health centres and the need to establish firewalls between immigration operations and health services107. This situation also affects Dominican 92 OBMICA. Dignified treatment: New challenges for Due Process in Deportations from the Dominican Republic. February, 2023. P.48. 93 Regulations for the application of the General Migration Law, “Decree 631-11”; adopted by the President on October 19, 2011. 94 CNN. Exclusive: Dominican Republic expelled hundreds of children to Haiti without their families this year, available at: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/21/americas/dominican-republic-expels-haiti-children-intl-latam/index.html. 95 BBC. “"They have returned me to Haiti 7 times and I have returned", the nightmare that Haitian children and adolescents live in the Dominican Republic.” August 29, 2023, available at: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/c51v25y3dl4o. 96 Zanmi Timoun Foundation. Press release. The Municipality of Belladère, At the Risk of Repatriations, Deportations and Mass Refoulements Coming from the Dominican Republic. November 5, 2022. 97 US Department of State Annual Report on Human Rights Dominican Republic. 2022. P. 9. 98 Infobae. Dominican Republic confirms deportation of 4 Haitian children, available at: https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2022/01/21/republica-dominicana-confirma-deportacion-de-4-ninos-haitianos/. 99 Today. So she took a Haitian woman away in a prison truck while she held on to her baby, available at: https://hoy.com.do/videoasi-se-llevo-migracion-a-una-haitiana-en-camion-carcel-mientras-se-aferraba-a-su-bebe/#lneqtt09jclzt8dqdna. 100 OBMICA. Dignified treatment: New challenges for Due Process in Deportations from the Dominican Republic. February, 2023. P. 36. 101 OBMICA and UNICEF, A new look at children on the move on the Dominican-Haitian border, May 31, 2023, p. 8. 102 Ad-hoc coalition of civil society organizations. Joint Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the situation of children and adolescents in the Dominican Republic, with emphasis on the rights to nationality, equality, non-discrimination, and access to education and health. 2023. Para. Four. Five; OBMICA and UNICEF, A new look at children on the move on the Dominican-Haitian border, May 31, 2023, p. 8. 103 OBMICA and UNICEF, A new look at children on the move on the Dominican-Haitian border, May 31, 2023, p. 7 104 OBMICA. Dignified treatment: New challenges for Due Process in Deportations from the Dominican Republic. February, 2023. P. 27. 105 Le National. More than 140 Haitians deported to Haiti in 2022, available at: https://lenational.org/post_article.php?pol=2964. 106 IACHR. Press release. IACHR expresses concern for pregnant women expelled in the Dominican Republic and calls on the State to guarantee access to protection mechanisms and reproductive health services. December 1, 2021. 107 OHCHR. Press release. Dominican Republic: UN experts condemn the detention and deportation of pregnant and postpartum Haitian women. September 12, 2023. 9