Haiti condemns Dominican Republic plan to deport 10,000 migrants per week

As Haiti remains plagued with gang violence, thousands are fleeing to the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic, and many are reportedly illegally crossing the border into the Dominican Republic. Now, the Dominican Republic said that it plans to deport tens of thousands of these migrants back to Haiti.

The move drew condemnation from Haiti’s leaders on Monday, Oct. 7. Haitian Foreign Minister Dominique Dupuy strongly disagreed with the Dominican Republic’s policy on social media.

He wrote on platform X, “The brutal scenes of roundups and deportations that we are witnessing are an affront to human dignity. We strongly condemn these dehumanizing acts and demand respect and justice.”

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The Dominican Republic said last week that it would deport up to 10,000 migrants per week who were in the country illegally.

Dominican officials defended the country’s policy, saying that they are taking care to respect human rights while doing what they need to in order to defend their borders. They say they have lost patience with a beleaguered United Nations-approved international security mission to quell gang violence in Haiti.

The U.N. is asking nations in the region to stop sending Haitians back to a region marked by violence. Last week, Haitian police said that a gang massacre killed at least 70 people including three infants and 10 women in farming community in Haiti.

If the Dominican Republic follows through with its new immigration policy, the number of migrants deported would reportedly rise sharply from 200,000 Haitians deported last year.

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Meanwhile, Haitian construction workers are protesting and demanding employers give them work permits to stay in the Dominican Republic.

Additionally, Dominican Republic civil rights groups are criticizing the crackdown by the country on migrants and said they believe the mass deportations violate international law.