Watchdog Warns of Forced Labor in Dominican Republic

Human Rights Research Center
2 hours ago
3 min read

August 28, 2026

HRRC supports the Corporate Accountability Lab in its investigation, report, and demands for just treatment of Haitian immigrant laborers of Central Romana Corporation in the Dominican Republic. HRRC also supports CAL’s address of the U.S. government and agrees that the Withhold Release Order (WRO) should be reinstated.

Laborers in a Central Romana sugarcane field [Image credit: Corporate Accountability Lab]

On August 20, the American agency known for immigration control and managing international trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, faced scrutiny after watchdog group Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) warned that forced labor still remains in use at the sugarcane fields of Central Romana Corporation, a prominent agricultural organization in the Dominican Republic.

In 2022, the U.S. banned the import of sugar and other products from Central Romana Corporation due to the organization’s alleged use of forced labor, in a document known as the Withhold Release Order (WRO). This order includes evidence of abusive working and living conditions, abuse of vulnerability, isolation, excessive overtime, and withholding of wages as reasons behind the ban. While this ban was put in place to protect human rights and international labor standards, the U.S. has since gone back on its commitment.

The WRO’s ban on Dominican sugarcane imports to the United States was lifted last year under the Trump administration, after it allegedly reviewed new evidence suggesting improved conditions. Corporate Accountability Lab released a report on August 18, 2026, that calls on the U.S. to reinstate the ban, bring in agency collaboration to promote labor rights, and further investigate any criminal violations surrounding labor trafficking. The report also claims Central Romana Corporation is in close alliance with President Trump through one of its owners.

CAL spent more than three years investigating the working conditions on Central Romana’s plantations through its interviews.

The report indicates workers are experiencing difficulties with fair payment, hazardous working conditions, and a range of additional abuses. In addition, CAL’s report includes findings indicating that a majority of the sugarcane field workers are Haitian or of Haitian descent, some of whom are recent migrants. CAL further notes the obstacles in obtaining legal documents that would allow these migrants to leave the plantation, encapsulating a form of forced labor. Even those Haitian workers born on the plantations are listed as ‘non-citizen Haitians’ under Dominican law, despite lacking Haitian documents. These obstacles make it difficult for migrant laborers to leave the properties owned by the Central Romana Corporation.

CAL’s report directly addressed the Dominican government, advocating for the provision of pensions for all workers who qualify, in addition to supporting efforts to address the lack of documentation for workers, which hinders their ability to agitate for improved conditions and protections.

“As long as sugar and other well-positioned interests enjoy the benefits of such market access while ignoring labor rights abuses in their supply chains, U.S. policy will remain complicit in the very kinds of abuse it claims to oppose.” - Corporate Accountability Lab, Executive Summary

The U.S. government must take action to promote international labor standards and help limit labor trafficking worldwide. Reinstating the ban on Central Romana-made imports is the first step toward accountability and justice. By strictly adhering to international human rights standards, the U.S. would put pressure on the DR to address and end the practice of forced labor.

Glossary

Complicit: helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way
Documents: an official paper, book, or electronic file that gives information about something, or that can be used as evidence or proof of something
Eviction: wrongful eviction of a tenant in reaction to the tenant's exercising of a right (as of reporting health code violations) contrary to the landlord's interest
Human trafficking: organized criminal activity in which human beings are treated as possessions to be controlled and exploited (as by being forced into sex work or involuntary labor)
International: involving two or more countries: occurring between countries
Pension: an amount of money that a company or the government pays to a person who is old or sick and no longer works
Supply chain: the chain of processes, businesses, etc. by which a commodity is produced and distributed: the companies, materials, and systems involved in manufacturing and delivering goods
Trade: the business of buying and selling or bartering commodities: commerce
Vulnerability: the quality or state of being vulnerable
Watchdog: one that guards against loss, waste, theft, or undesirable practices