Dominican Republic announces strict measures on its border with Haiti
The Dominican Republic announced on Sunday, February 23, "stricter" surveillance measures and increased police operations on its border with Haiti in an attempt to curb illegal migration from the country, ravaged by gang violence.
Dominican President Luis Abinader has toughened his migration policy toward Haiti since coming to power in 2020, with the construction of a border wall and mass expulsions that have reached 276,000 by 2024. Since October, 142,378 Haitians have been expelled, according to the General Directorate of Migration (DGM).
"More vehicles and technological resources for the repatriation of undocumented migrants" will be deployed, said the director of migration, Luis Lee Ballester, in a statement. "The new provisions will aim to strengthen border surveillance and optimize entry controls," he added.
According to data, about 500,000 Haitian immigrants live in the Dominican Republic, a country of 10.5 million people.
The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, began building a separation wall in 2021 to "protect itself" from illegal immigration, violence and Haitian smuggling, and this week announced it would extend it by another 12 km, bringing its length to just over 170 km.
The barrier is to stretch over more than half of the 340-kilometre border between the two countries. The latest official figures from November 2024 stated that the first phase of the project was 80% complete.
Mr Abinader, re-elected in 2024, had promised during his first term to continue, in a second phase, the construction of the wall in the mountainous areas, where the number of border crossings is increasing.
