Wednesday Josué Gastelbondo Head of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Dominican Republic declared that during the last two weeks 17,336 Haitians have returned voluntarily to Haiti which indicates a marked acceleration of return despite the fact that the Dominican Republic partially reopened its economy.

Since the island's two nations closed their borders from March 16 to mid-June, 57,669 Haitians residing in the Dominican Republic have returned to Haiti, according to figures from the Dominican border authorities compiled by the IOM office.

Gastelbondo said the IOM does not interview migrants on the exact causes behind their voluntary returns. However, he considers as possible causes that the construction sector, in which many Haitians work, has not fully recovered, especially in tourist areas, and the fact that trade remains difficult and customers are scarce. He also mentioned that many Haitians who ran out of money on the deposit (3 months) of their homes are starting to be evicted by the owners...

Gastelbondo also pointed out that in recent weeks "the dynamics of border movements are intensifying" which means that more people linked to small businesses, cross the border line legally or illegally...

According to IOM statistics in Haiti, last week 6,356 people went to the Dominican Republic and 11,811 people were registered at border crossings to Haiti, which represents an increase in the trend. Remember that these figures are not exhaustive, the IOM in Haiti only monitors the four official border crossings and 46 other illegal crossings out of more than a hundred...

S/ HaitiLibre