‘Haitians enter by the hundreds’ contradict official figures

Santo Domingo.- The Defense Ministry’s routine announcements of a bolstered border with more Dominican troops contradict allegations that hundreds of Haitians cross the frontier unchecked.

Looking ahead, president Danilo Medina in April ordered heightened border security to deal with the departure of UN Peacekeepers (Minustah), and announced the deployment of 650 additional troops to join the 500 already assigned to the Border Corp (Cesfront).

Moreover, figures from a Defense source reveal that more than 50,000 Haitians have been detained and deported in the first seven months in joint operations with the Immigration Agency.

“What happens is that people complain that there are many Haitians in the streets, but these Haitians are legalized and nothing can be done, they cannot be deported, they are covered by the plan (regularization) and they are more than 20,000,” said the source quoted by diariolibre.com.

Meanwhile Immigration says it deports more than 6,000 foreigners every month and conducts sweeps in the capital’s streets and avenues daily.

Presser suspended at last minute

Defense minister Rubén Paulino abruptly suspended a press conference he had convened for 10:30am Monday, to announce the reinforcement of the border, the work being done to prevent the entry of illegal Haitians and to clarify the confusion among citizens.