Groups demand halt to people trafficking at border, warn of sanctions

Dajabon, Dominican Republic. – Dominican and Haiti nongovernment and religious groups today demanded that authorities of both countries halt the trafficking of Haitian men, women and children through the border crossings of the Dominican Northwest, EFE reports, citing the Jesuit Service for Migrants and Refugees (SJR) and Border Solidarity.

The entities told local media of the Haitian city Ouanaminthe, near the Dominican border that 3,353 Haitians, 1,032 women and 345 children among them, were trafficked across the Dominican Republic border zone in February.

In that regard, the Dominican Human Rights Commission for the North Zone said the country could face international sanctions if it doesn’t halt people trafficking across its border with Haiti.

The Jesuits and Solidarity also denounced that people traffickers use other border crossings such as Mechor and Capotile (Capotillo), where they affirm neither Haitian or Dominican authorities exert control.

They revealed that the women traffickers pose as the children’s mothers, even of newborns taken to Dominican territory, adding that in some cases the Haitian parents don’t know anything on their offspring’s’ whereabouts in Dominican Republic.