Vehicles at the Elias Piña border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic have been seen carrying Haitian migrants back to their native land in cages designed to carry livestock, The New York Timesreported.
Since October 2024, over 55,000 people have been deported to Haiti – including men, pregnant women, unaccompanied children, and others who never lived there. Dominican officials claim the goal of the massive deportations is 10,000 per week, as a result of a new strict immigration policy charged by a complicated and racist history with Haiti, including sharing the island of Hispaniola.
However, that hasn’t stopped Haitians, desperate for some form of stability and security, from fleeing into DR as the country has become riddled with problems. Since Haiti’s last president was assassinated more than three years ago, the country has been overcome with a lack of medical resources, gang violence, and political turmoil. Over 12,000 people have been left dead and almost 800,000 have been forced out of their homes.
As a result, Haitian migrants have heightened usage of Dominican government services such as public health, and authorities are fed up. “The general feeling of the Dominican population is that we are providing social services greater than what the Dominican Republic is responsible for,” foreign minister Roberto Álvarez said.
“And that the international community has left us alone to attend to Haitian needs.”
Dominican Republic president Luis Abinader shared similar thoughts, claiming his country shouldn’t be looked at as the escape vessel for a crisis that has been visibly ignored by the world.
Abinader warned the United Nations that if Haiti’s situation wasn’t handled, DR would be forced to take “special measures.” Shortly after, he issued a stricter immigration policy in October 2024, beefing up border controls and deploying specialized units to crack down on the increase of migrants and human traffickers. “We don’t have to offer explanations to respect our immigration laws,” the president said.
Activists like Sam Guillaume of Haiti’s Support Group for Returnees and Refugees feel the deportations are putting the lives of thousands at risk, according to the Associated Press. They are also accusing the Dominican Republic of “hunting down” Haitians with claims of extortion, rape, or being held behind bars without food or water. Some are allegedly being subjected to beatings or tear gas “if they dare say boo.”
“There are a great number of armed groups that are just like birds of prey waiting to swoop down and take advantage of these people,” Guillaume said.
Coordinator for the Dominican-based National Coalition for Migrations and Refugees and activist William Charpentier called the deportations “a type of persecution against Black people, against everything they presume to be Haitian,” and an increased presence of abandoned children across the Dominican Republic.
Radhafil Rodríguez, the adviser to the OAS’ Dominican Republic mission, said all accusations of mistreatment had been rejected by DR’s government and promised all complaints would be taken “very seriously” and investigated. He continued to say his country stands in solidarity with the people of Haiti in their time of need. However, there is no expectation for a pause in deportations.