DAJABON, Dominican Republic. – Dominican authorities arrested 1,100 Haitians who crossed the country illegally through Dajabón province (northwest), military sources revealed Wednesday.
Quoted by diariolibre.com, Border Security (Cesfront) officials said the illegal immigrants who’ll be repatriated to Haiti in the coming hours, spent the night on streets and highways in various parts of the Northwest.
The military agency said Haitians wanted to reach Santiago (north-central) the country’s second biggest city “the preferred destination for these immigrants.”
Some of the Haitians told soldiers that they were left homeless by the powerful earthquake that devastated much of Haiti’s capital in 2010 and that unidentified vandals torched the shelters where they were staying.
Meanwhile the Jano Siksè Network, a Hatians’ rights advocate group that works along along the Dominican-Haitian border, denounced Monday that some 3,434 Haitians have been sent back to their country this year alone. "In most cases the migrants don’t have the opportunity to challenge or appeal deportation orders."