Haitian Consulate Staff Arrested In The Dominican Republic

The Haitian Embassy in Santo Domingo expressed its "surprise" at the arrest of two diplomats by the Dominican Republic Army on Thursday.

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Williamson Jean and Jackson Lorrain were arrested on their way to a farm in Montecristi province, where they hoped to deliver 11 passports and produce IDs for the hundreds of Haitian workers waiting for them. This visit had been previously agreed with the owners of the farm.

The military confiscated the passports and two computer equipment used to produce personal identification cards, which are documents and materials owned by the Haitian state.

The arrest occurred despite the fact that Jean and Lorrain showed diplomatic identifications whose authenticity was later confirmed by the head of the consulate, Francois Guerrier.

This is not the first time that something like this happens. Previously, the head of the Haitian consulate had also "been attacked in a military check-up just when he was traveling to carry out similar activities."

For this reason, the Embassy requested "greater and effective collaboration" from the Dominican authorities in order to carry out documentation activities for Haitian immigrants who work on agricultural plantations.

The incident occurred at a time when the Dominican Republic has strengthened border surveillance and launched a series of measures to curb irregular immigration from Haiti.