Haitian deportations would paralyze banana sector exports

Santo Domingo, DR

The president of the permanent commission of Agriculture of the Chamber of Deputies, Rafael Antonio Abel Lora, warned that the banana sector of the Northwest line runs the risk of paralyzing the exports of its products.

The legislator said that due to actions taken by the National Army and the National Direction of Migration against foreign workers, production and exportation could be harmed.

In that sense, the legislator for Montecristi said that both institutions have initiated “massive raids,” where they detain foreign workers, failing to comply with the 90-day term established by the National Migration Council to formalize foreign labor in the country.

Rafael Abel explained that Army trucks, duly identified, keep standing in front of the farms and prepare “all dark-skinned workers” to be purged, even if they present their identification documents and, in some cases, their passports.

“This practice has generalized the fear among the producers represented by Adobanano of failing to meet their commitments to sell to the European Union, due to lack of labor to work the fruit,” he explained.

Given this, he commented that the farmers had proposed several alternatives to the government, such as zoned work permits, regional banana cards, and other solutions that would allow the normal development of agricultural activities until the government defines the official migratory policy.

From banana exports, the country receives weekly transfers worth more than US$5 million that stimulate the economy of the region and produce more than 70,000 jobs.