Saying it is better than starving in Haiti is not quite the point.
Most Haitian sugar workers are brought here on the basis of false promises, much like the DR women sex workers who are lured to Europe with promises of much more money and better conditions than they end up in. Some are even abducted.
Once they are in the bateyes, it is too late for them to do anything about this: they are stuck there. In the non-productive season they have to eat, so their only option is to run up debts at the company colmados, which they then have to work to repay during the harvest. Some places even pay in coupons only valid for those colmados, not cash.
The average income per capita in Haiti is about US$1 per day, three times more than RD$10. So even if a Haitian stays in Haiti and manages to earn half of the average income, s/he will be better off than someone working in the DR sugar fields.
It is true about world sugar prices and the effect of corn syrup, but hey, guys, you're the free market economists - doesn't this mean that the sugar companies should call it a day?
And yes, despite the campaigns on the behalf of Haitians in the DR, anyone with any power to do anything about it is looking the other way. Of course, as long as Dominicans go on employing them at slave wage level, this will continue. But patriotism takes a back seat when it comes to making a buck, no es cierto?
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