128 | Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the Dominican Republic 311. As concerns living conditions in the bateyes, the Commission observed that the hygiene conditions in many of them were inconsistent with minimum decent standards of living, given that they did not have drinking water and that the septic tanks were located very close to the barracks where people lived. It was generally apparent both outside the bateyes and inside the lodgings and barracks that in some cases people were living in overcrowded conditions, with several persons or families sharing small rooms with sand floors and cooking with firewood in the same rooms. Some people had to share mattresses or did not even have a mattress to sleep on. 312. The Commission was also informed that, during the rainy season, many of these bateyes were cut off from major roads and highways that would enable the people living there to get to other parts of the country, given that many of the roads to bateyes located inside sugar plantations are made of sand and flood during the rains. This has resulted in serious problems when people have had to be moved from the bateyes because of serious health issues or taken to a hospital or specialized medical center. The Commission also observed there were no medical clinics. 313. The delegations who visited the bateyes were able to observe how many of the people were living in overcrowded conditions without sanitation, since there was a lack of clean water and latrines. These deficiencies created conditions for various diseases, which were frequently reported. The medical clinics were in poor condition and usually at considerable distances from the bateyes. 314. As concerns the situation in the bateyes, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in its concluding observations on the thirteen and fourteenth periodic reports of the Dominican Republic, said the following in March 2013: [T]he arduous living conditions of migrants of Haitian origin, particularly on the sugar plantations, are still a source of concern on account of the limited access to health services, housing, sanitation, drinking water and education (art. 5 (e) (iv) and (v)). The Committee recommends that the State party step up its efforts to guarantee progressive access to health, sanitation, drinking water and education for the population, and in particular the dark-skinned population of African descent and to continue to improve living standards on the sugar plantations. 307 315. The deplorable living conditions in the bateyes, reflected in the failure to guarantee economic, social, and cultural rights, create a tragic cycle in which a future of poverty is almost inescapable for the persons living there. The Commission considers that the threats posed by the living conditions of persons in the bateyes reflect what is known in economic terms as “poverty traps,” that is, the persistence of the poverty of a person, family, or society owing to a vicious circle in which the present situation, for example, obstacles to access to education, health service, decent housing, sanitation, drinking water, recreation, and employment, compounds 307 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding observations on the thirteen and fourteenth periodic reports of the Dominican Republic. CERD/C/DOM/CO/13-14. March 1, 2013, par. 14. Organization of American States | OAS