Protest against undocumented Haitians at 2nd biggest Dominican city

Santiago. – Community organizations in Santiago, Dominican Republic’s second biggest city, on Tuesday announced that they’ll block traffic on Wednesday, to protest against what they describe as the massive immigration of undocumented Haitians, Efe reports.

The said they’ll also get the authorities to bolster enforcement against illegal immigrants in the country, "because otherwise the population will do so," said Jose Alberto Peña, coordinator of the South Santiago Community and Neighborhood Organizations (CODOSUR).

Efe quoted the community leader as saying that the march will also support Electoral Board president Roberto Rosario, "who faces a conflict because he allegedly took away the nationality fro more than 22,000 people, descendants of illegal Haitian immigrants."

Law enforcement agencies and neighborhood leaders blame many of the undocumented Haitians for some of the robberies, aggravated assaults, rapes, kidnapping, blackmail and fraud in the city, and of staging voodoo rituals, practically unknown in the Dominican Republic.

For its part, the North Central Police Command has stated its concern with the high number of undocumented Haitians who’re involved in criminal activity in Santiago and other areas of the northern region.

Past complaints

The complaints from Santiago are the latest against the massive presence of undocumented Haitians, and have already led to deadly confrontations.