PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (sentinel.ht) – Port-au-Prince declined an ultimatum by the Dominican Republic requiring it to issue a formal apology for comments Haitian government officials made about the country. Communications Minister Rotchild Francois Jr. said Monday that “the Haitian government would not be apologizing to the Dominican Republic for charges it has made against it that have been proven true.”
The Dominican government said it would only take the Organization of American States’ (OAS) recommendation to open dialogue with Haiti if the government issued a formal apology for comments made regarding the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Minister Francois said that the Haitian government “is certainly ready to dialoque with the Dominicans, but only on repatriation protocol.”
The Haitian government has been hoping to reach an agreement in order to improve communication, designate border points, times and other critical factors of the repatriation process but relations between the two countries, at least officially, have ceased in recent months.
Many OAS nations, especially in the Caribbean, have called on the D.R. to stop massive deportations and implement due processes to ensure international standards are met, human rights aren’t violated and families are not split due to the deportation practices.
Canadian and U.S. representatives to the OAS have asked for the D.R. to finally decide if it will agree to a 1999 protocol that was drafted by both countries in order to set terms for coordinated repatriations. 16 years later observers are not clear what Dominican officials want to do with it.
Minister Francois hailed the efforts made by the Organization of American States to help stymie a humanitarian crisis.
More than 40,000 have crossed the border into Haiti in the past month and the Dominican Republic is calling them “voluntary” repatriations but an International Organization of Migration (IOM) investigation found that 30% were forcefully deported by military, police, immigration officials and other groups. Many others say they left for fear of violence or abrupt deportations.
Already in the town of Anse-a-Pitres, two tent cities have risen of persons who have crossed into the country.
We are on MICKEY’s side.
The DR should apologize to Haiti, and the world, for what is doing to its own native-born citizens.
Haiti Calls for Repatriation Dialogue with Dominican Republic
Hundreds of Haitian sugar cane workers march in the Dominican capital Santo Domingo to demand just policies Monday, July 20, 2015.
Published 21 July 2015 (8 hours 50 minutes ago)
Recommend Haiti’s openness to negotiation comes after the Dominican Republic rejected OAS calls for dialogue to address the migration situation on the Caribbean island. The Haitian government is calling for negotiations with the Dominican Republic on the repatriation of Haitians, saying a more than decade-old agreement on the issue is no longer being fulfilled. Haitian authorities expressed concern that the conditions of the Repatriation Protocol, set in 1999, between the two countries are not currently being met, and announced that the government is prepared to renegotiate the deal with the Dominican Republic. RELATED: The Origins of Anti-Haitian Sentiment in the Dominican Republic Under the 1999 protocol signed by both governments, the Dominican Republic is not permitted to enforce mass expulsions, having agreed to several measures to respect basic rights of Haitian immigrants as part of improving the deportation system. According to Haitian authorities, the threat of mass deportations of tens of thousands of Haitian descendants is a contravention of the 1999 Repatriation Protocol. On social media, Haitian Communications Minister Rotchild Francois indicated that Haiti is only interested in dialogue with the Dominican Republic on the issue of the repatriation agreement. “We are ready to engage in dialogue with Dominicans, but only on the Repatriation Protocol.” Last week, the Dominican Republic rejected calls by the Organization of American States (OAS) to engage in dialogue with Haiti, demanding that Haiti must apologize for criticizing Dominican immigration policy and accusing the nation of fomenting a crisis before diplomatic talks could take place. An OAS mission visited the Dominican Republic and Haiti earlier this month to assess the migration situation and is expected to deliver a report on its findings before the end of this year.
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Haitian women make up a large portion of the patients giving birth in Dominican hospitals. In the capital of Port-au-Prince, hospitals estimate that up to 35 percent of the patients in their maternity wards are Haitian. On the border, the numbers are higher still. One hospital director estimated that three out of four of his patients are Haitian women who come to Dominican Republic to give birth.
So how is this an fair situation? Maybe Haiti should provide better health care to its citizens
Educate people of the facts!
No other country in the world has helped Haiti more than that the DR
I find it amazing how we Dominicans always manage to outsmart and outmaneuver Haitians.
The Dominican government said it would only open immigration and deportations dialogue with Haiti if the latter apologize for their smear campaign against DR.
By refusing to apologize, Haitians are giving Dominicans an excuse not to improve communication, designate border points, times, and other critical factors of the repatriation process.
Now I see Haitians foolishly excited because their government is refusing to apologize, when that is precisely what the Dominican government wants.
To echo Faith’s point, no other country has done more for Haiti than the Dominican Republic, and regardless of the current issues, the generosity of the DR towards Haiti will continue even though it is never recognized nor appreciated.
The DR is not the USA, where any illegal who get in. and give birth her child become us citizens.
Jose- While the comment you make may be true, but many of these Dominican born citizens were born to DOMINICAN BORN CITIZENS.
Face it. All the DR has for Haitian migrant workers there in the DR since the 20’s is BIGOTRY