The Dominican Republic has announced a series of measures to bolster border security and tighten migration control in response to escalating instability in neighbouring Haiti.
President Luis Abinader said on Sunday that security would be increased, despite calls for his country to ease stringent policies as Haitians seek refuge from violence wracking their country.
“We will step up surveillance of the borders with 1,500 additional troops, on top of 9,500 already deployed,” the Dominican leader, re-elected last year on pledges to clamp down on immigration, said in a speech.
Abinader added that he has approved the construction of a new section of a wall that separates the two countries – which share the second-largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba.
The border between the two countries stretches for more than 300km (186 miles). About 54km (33 miles) of border wall has been completed.
The president said his latest order would “speed up construction of the border wall” to add a further 13km (8 miles).
Legal reforms are also on the agenda, according to Abinader, with the goal of using tougher penalties to deter those who facilitate the entry and stay of immigrants into the country.
Abuse
The increased border measures come as the Dominican Republic eyes the deepening crisis in Haiti.
Chaos took reign in the country last year as violence flared dramatically, leaving an alliance of gangs in control of most of the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Despite the efforts of a Kenyan peacekeeping force, numbering approximately 1,000, the transitional government in Haiti has been unable, or unwilling, to curtail the violence, which has seen a resurgence over the last month or so.
The United Nations reports that more than 5,600 people were killed in 2024 and that over one million people have been displaced, many seeking refuge in the neighbouring Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic has responded with stringent deportation policies, aiming to repatriate up to 10,000 Haitians per week in recent months.
This has led to reports of human rights abuses, with advocates calling on countries across the Americas, especially the United States and the Dominican Republic, to halt deportations due to dire conditions awaiting people in Haiti.
Abinader, who won a second term in the May 2024 election that heavily featured issues relating to Haiti, has emphasised the need for tougher border and immigration controls while also calling for international assistance.
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