More than 500 Haitian workers repatriated voluntarily

Santo Domingo.- The Immigration Agency on Monday announced the repatriation of more than 500 temporary Haitian workers to their nation, the first after such voluntary returns were suspended in the 1980s.

It said the Army and the Foreign Affairs and Labor ministries cooperated in the repatriation of the Barahona sugar mill workers, whose legal status had been regularized.

Barahona sugar mill executives provided the facilities necessary for the return through the border crossing at Jimani, including transport, to bring the workers to the site they chose.

“The Barahona mill is the first company in the sector in the process to ensure the regularization of its entire foreign labor force in compliance with Law 285-04, in this case Haitian workers, with the support of the Haitian government through its consulate in Barahona,” Immigration said.

In a statement, Immigration director Jose Ricardo Taveras said the International Organization for Migrations cooperated with the documentation and issuing of passports. “This is a historical event because the policy of gradual and concerted regulation of the Dominican labor market will start yielding its results.”