Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of the Interior and Police, through the Vice Ministry of Migration Management and Naturalization, has expressed its appreciation for the decision of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to cancel the opening of a migrant care center in Punta Cana. This decision comes after the institution responsible for immigration policy in the Dominican Republic called for the cancellation.

Vice Minister Juan Manuel Rosario provided this information, stating that the IOM’s decision to forgo the inauguration of the CARE (Center for Attention, Resources, and References for Migrants) center in La Altagracia province on Saturday at 9 a.m. was welcomed. Rosario commended the UN specialized agency’s mission in the Dominican Republic, led by Josúe Gastelbondo Amaya, and emphasized that the center’s opening did not have the approval of the Ministry of the Interior and Police.

Rosario underscored that immigration policy is a discretionary initiative of the state and cannot be implemented by any external agency. He cited Article 1, Paragraph 3 of the IOM constitution, which recognizes that admission standards and the number of immigrants admitted are within the jurisdiction of individual states.

The Vice Minister highlighted the role of the IOM in contributing to and supporting the migration policies, laws, and regulations of states. He reiterated the Dominican State’s firm decision to continue deportations of illegal immigrants and to prohibit refugee camps for foreign nationals with irregular immigration status in the national territory.