Spanish
Santo Domingo. – The young American citizen who died in the Vacacional de Haina, Ezri Hajiune, stated in a handwritten letter that she did not identify as American, that she was born in Asia and that she felt extreme fear of returning to the United States or having contact with citizens of that country.
"I am mostly Asian. I was born in Asia. I cannot go back to the United States. It is illegal for me to return. I don't know anyone there," she wrote in English with broken phrases, also stating that any U.S. documents about her identity were false, the product of kidnapping or torture.
"I have an extreme phobia of Americans. I have panic attacks when I see them. Don't ask me to talk to them," he also wrote.
Human rights activist Carlos Sánchez reported that Ezri was detained in April after being found disoriented on an East beach without documents, and held in inadequate conditions at the Haina detention center.
Although Dominican authorities confirmed her American nationality in June through facial recognition technology, Ezri insisted that her origin was Asian, that she had been a victim of war, and that she should not be treated as an American citizen.
In the habeas corpus hearing held on May 19, Judge Wilma Cuello ordered that Ezri be medically evaluated and that contact with her lawyer be facilitated. However, that court order was never fully executed, and the young woman was found lifeless a month later. According to the General Directorate of Migration, Ezri died while being prepared for a medical procedure. Although they stated that the body showed no visible signs of violence, the case remains under investigation by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF).
