Santo Domingo, DR
It is a great danger that stalks us. And a complex equation of truths, lies, and false assumptions.
1. In 1960, the Dominican Republic and Haiti had very similar per capita incomes. However, in 2021 we will exceed it by 600%, driving the emigration of more than one million Haitians to our country.
2. We hate Haiti because of racism and illegal immigration, and they hate us because they believe the entire island belongs to them.
Our trade balance with Haiti is incredibly positive (US$925 million), but our migratory balance is negative. As a result, people with some education leave us, while we receive people with little or no education.
4. Many Haitians also come with visas who are middle and upper class and have the resources to settle in the country.
5. Some sectors of the economy would go bankrupt without Haitian labor. 120,000 in construction, 210,000 in agriculture, and more than 350,000 in services, from tourism, commerce, street sales, security, gardening, domestic services to municipalities for cleaning. If Dominicans would do these jobs, we would not have unemployment.
6. The price of Haitian labor lowers costs in the sectors where they are most abundant. By using Dominican labor, everything would go up in price. And in the case of agriculture, we would have to stop planting.
7. The Dominican Republic is the second country after the United States from which Haitians send the most significant amount of remittances. Some US$500 million annually.
8. The cost of health and education for Haitians living in the country represents some RD$10 billion annually.
9. The problem of this immigration, mostly illegal, is that the crisis in Haiti has exacerbated it, and we no longer have spaces to provide work, increasing crime and homicides.
10. This leads to an increase in xenophobia and the fear that the violence of our neighbors will be transferred to the Dominican Republic.
11. Haiti is a time bomb. It is on the way to a great popular revolt and the collapse of its already poor economy, which will further boost the illegal entry of Haitians.
12. That makes the border wall a high priority.
13. The only solution to the Haitian crisis is to send a UN peacekeeping force once again to pacify the country and put it on the path to a new institutional framework.
14. There is no plan B.