The Dominican Republic was announced earlier this month, the resumption of the repatriations of illegal Haitian immigrants, who had stopped for humanitarian reasons after the earthquake of January 2010. Sigfrido Pared Perez, Director of Immigration had stated that his agency would respond "firmly with the illegal entry of Haitians" in the Dominican Republic.

According official military sources, the Dominican authorities have arrested so far for the month of January, 1.221 Haitian illegal, including 55 children who were victims of human traffickers from Haiti.

Monday, 91 Haitians without legal documents, including five children, who were hiding in a house in the province of Dajabon in the Northwest, in waiting to be transported by traffickers towards other Dominican cities, were arrested. Colonel Gilberto Gil Ramirez, commander of the 10th National Army battalion stationed in Dajabón, told reporters that illegal immigrants, 61 men, 25 women and five children were transferred to Fort Beller, the Headquarters of the 10th battalion before being handed over to immigration authorities for repatriation to their countries of origin.

The officer said that during this operation, the traffickers had managed to flee and was unable to specify if the owner of the house had been arrested or if he would be prosecuted in court.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRMS) of the Dominican Republic has condemned the repatriation "mass" of the Haitian and denounced "the raids and other violations of individual freedom that are contrary to the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Constitution of the Dominican Republic".

See also:

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2043-haiti-social-in-72-hours-more-than-400-haitians-have-been-repatriated-in-haiti.html

S/ HaitiLibre