Caribbean island nations move with extensions of boundary walls and plaguing migrants with violence and disorderly people and neighbours.
The Dominican Republic has announced a series of measures to strengthen border security and strengthen mobility control in response to the escalation of instability in neighboring Haiti.
President Lewis Abinader said on Sunday that security would increase despite his country calling for strict policies to ease as Haitians seek to evacuate from violence that took them away.
“We will strengthen border surveillance with 1,500 additional forces above the 9,500 already deployed,” the Dominican leader said in a speech that he was re-elected last year in a pledge that concluded the immigrants.
Abinader added that he has approved the construction of a new section of the wall separating the two countries, which share the second largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba.
The border between the two countries extends over 300 km (186 miles). The approximately 54km (33 miles) boundary wall has been completed.
The president said his latest order would add another 13km (8 miles) to “speed up the construction of the boundary wall.”
Legal reform is also on the agenda, according to Abinader, with the aim of using stricter penalties to block people who encourage immigrants to enter and stay.
abuse
The increase in border measurements aims to deepen the crisis in Haiti by the Dominican Republic.
Chaos took control of the country last year as violence flares dramatically, leaving behind a gang alliance under the control of most of the Port-au-Prince capital.
Despite efforts by around 1,000 Kenya’s peacekeeping forces, Haiti’s transitional government has failed to stifle or reduce the violence it saw revival last month or so.
The United Nations reports that more than 5,600 people died in 2024, more than 1 million people were displaced, and many are seeking evacuation in the nearby Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic has responded with a strict deportation policy, aiming to repatriate up to 10,000 Haitians a week in recent months.
This has led to reports of human rights abuse, and advocates are calling on the United States, particularly the countries of the United States and the Dominican Republic, to stop deportation on conditions awaiting Haitian people.
Abinader, who won a second term in the May 2024 election, which frequently highlighted issues related to Haiti, has emphasized the need for strict borders and immigrant control, seeking international aid.
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