Dominican Republic to ramp up deportations as Haiti conflict worsens

The Dominican Republic connected Wednesday announced an "immediate" program to deport up to 10,000 migrants per week, arsenic it ramps up enforcement on its borderline with Haiti contempt U.N. pleas for it not to expel radical to its conflict-hit neighbor.

The announcement from the Caribbean land federation did not specify that the program would people Haitians, but nationals from its neighbour person made up the immense bulk of deportees.

If implemented, the program would people important maturation successful deportations aft much than 200,000 Haitians were forcibly returned past year, according to U.N. data.

In its statement, the president's bureau pointed to the dilatory advancement and "limited" results of a U.N.-backed information ngo sent to assistance Haitian constabulary retake power of the superior from the increasing beingness of equipped gangs.

"Faced with this reality, we're forced to enactment decisively," statesmanlike spokesperson Homero Figueroa said successful the statement.

The program calls for much borderline inspectors, surveillance drones and gathering "temporary repatriation camps", portion taking into relationship some information and quality rights, Figueroa said.

A spokesperson for Haiti's premier curate did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The United Nations has asked countries including the Dominican Republic and the United States to halt deportations to Haiti, wherever terrible hunger has soared and is present affecting astir fractional the colonisation of astir 11 million.

The fig of Haitians internally displaced has astir doubled successful six months, surpassing 700,000 arsenic gangs grow to areas astir the capital.

The Dominican Republic, which shares the land of Hispaniola with Haiti, past twelvemonth accounted for 96% of Haitians deported from countries astir the world.

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader was reelected this year, pledging to instrumentality a pugnacious stance connected Haitian migration.

Last year, the Dominican Republic shuttered borderline crossings citing a struggle implicit a canal being built successful Haiti disconnected a shared river. In 2022, it began gathering a borderline wall.

Local activists person for years protested deportations of susceptible radical specified arsenic large women and the stripping of Dominican nationality from immoderate 200,000 radical calved to Haitian parents implicit a decennary ago.