Dominican Republic Agrees to Regularize Haitian Migrants

On Thursday, President Luis Abinader and Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry agreed to regularize the situation of undocumented Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. To this end, they decided to revitalize the Haitian-Dominican Mixed Commission.

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Their meeting took place on the sidelines of the 2022 Summit of the Americas, which was convened by the United States and is taking place in Los Angeles.

According to the Haitian government, Abinader stated that the Dominican Republic is ready to provide technical assistance to the Henry administration in areas related to training, technology, and intelligence.

The leaders of both countries also spoke about support for the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (Binuh) and the strengthening of port management.

Henry requested the Dominican support for the candidacy of the former Health Minister Florence Guillaume Duperval for the position of director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). This proposal was received favorably by Abinader.

Currently, thousands of undocumented Haitians reside in the Dominican Republic, where they work mainly in agriculture, civil construction, and informal commerce.

In February, the Dominican Republic began the construction of a 160-kilometer fence on the 391-kilometer border with Haiti. Through this infrastructure, the Abinader administration seeks to curb immigration and smuggling from the neighboring country.