Amnesty for Haitians a blunder, Immigration tells the UN

Santo Domingo.- “Dominican Republic cannot assume Haiti’s problem alone, but as a collapsed state we cannot turn our backs on it, for which the international community has to deal with it,” Immigration director José Ricardo Taveras said Friday, in response to the UN’s call for amnesty for the undocumented Haitians in the country.

“It would be the Dominican government’s biggest blunder,” the official said regarding local UN Development Program (UNDP) representative Valerie Julliand, who called on Dominican Republic to grant an amnesty regulate status of Haitian immigrants who’ve lived in the country for many years.

He reiterated that international organizations should focus on helping Haiti and not intervene in Dominican Republic’s internal affairs, "they must understand that once and for all."

"Anyone who supports amnesty forgets that Haiti is a failed state, so there’s no possibility of handling migration flows with Valerie Julliand’s suggestion.”

Taveras spoke during the signing of an agreement with the hoteliers grouped in Asonahores, to regulate foreigners working in the tourism sector. He added that Immigration will be flexible with tourism businesses which work to regulate their foreign employees.