Haiti - UN : Antonio Guterres asks the Rep. Dominican humanitarian exemption
Friday September 15, 2023, after the total closure by the Dominican Republic of the border with Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40503-haiti-flash-dr-closes-its-land-sea-and-air-borders-with-haiti-goods-and-passengers.html as part of the ongoing conflict between the two countries regarding the construction of an irrigation canal in Haiti with a planned water intake on the Massacre River (shared by both countries); The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, asked the Dominican Government for a humanitarian exemption for the UN agency in the context of this conflict.
"The Secretary General emphasizes that humanitarian exemptions to the border closure are urgently necessary to ensure the continuation of all UN activities in Haiti," said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
Let's remember that the UN, for security reasons, stores part of its humanitarian stocks in the Dominican Republic, to which its agencies in Haiti must have access to support humanitarian aid in Haiti, where gang violence and growing hunger have increased the need for assistance.
The UN and the United States fear that the diplomatic dispute between the two nations of the island will worsen the situation in Haiti.
