August 12,1999
2. Haiti-DR talks scheduled for October
The Bilateral Dominican-Haitian Commission will meet in the DR in the first half of October to discuss pending matters. After the last meeting, Haiti was admitted as a member of the Caricom and the Dominican government has prepared a bill for the reform of the Migration Law. A preparatory meeting will be held at the end of September.
Minister of Foreign Relations Eduardo Latorre reiterated the government position that the improvement of the economy of Haiti is in the best interest of the DR. Latorre stressed that if things get better inside of Haiti there will be less migration to the DR and Haitians will be able to buy more Dominican goods.
The DR government, as a result of the first commission talks, reached an agreement with Haiti so that all Haitians crossing the border travel with identification papers. One of the biggest problems under discussion is how to treat the thousands of Haitians that live in the DR with no identification papers. The offspring of these confront serious problems because they also lack identification papers. To register a child, the parents need to have their own official identification.
The identification papers requirement is not easily enforced, though. The border with Haiti is more than 300 kilometers of unsupervised stretch. And with the poverty levels at such high levels in Haiti, on the list of priorities for those seeking to merely survive, is not applying for identification papers in Haiti.
Some 2,000 to 3,000 undocumented Haitians are deported every month, but this is but a small percentage of the thousands that cross the border every month seeking to make a living.
The Fernández government has been very vocal about the DR's responsibility in seeking international help for Haiti. Simply stated, if the DR does not help Haiti develop, Haiti's poverty will flow into the DR. Life expectancy in Haiti is estimated at 54 years, compared to 68 years in the DR. Per capita income in Haiti is US$250 per year, compared to near US$2,000 for the DR. 50% of all Haitians are illiterate, compared to 17% in the DR. And only 45% of the children of school age in Haiti have ever been to school, compared to 90% of Dominicans.
August 29, 1999
3. Haitian ambassador says it has issued 30,000 birth certificates
The ambassador of Haiti in the DR, Guy Lamothe told the Listín Diario that the Haitian Embassy in the DR is addressing the problem of undocumented Haitians living in the DR. He said that the Santo Domingo-based embassy has issued 30,000 birth certificates to Haitians residing in the DR since the program began in 1998 in response to requests from Dominican authorities.
Less than 2,000 Haitians are legal residents of the Dominican Republic, while migration authorities and the Haitian Embassy concur there must be about 500,000 Haitians residing illegally in the DR.
The Haitian Embassy was authorized to issue the birth certificates or consular letters where a photograph of the individual is featured and this serves as identification. Because of the extreme poverty in Haiti, most Haitians that cross the DR frontier at unofficial points do not have identification. This brings innumerable problems for the adults and also for their offspring. For instance, their children have trouble getting their titles from public schools as they have not been issued birth certificates. The Haitian Constitution recognizes as Haitians those born of Haitian parents through the third generation. The Dominican Constitution recognizes as Dominicans all born in the national territory except those born of parents that are here in transit. The illegal Haitians are considered "in transit."
4. Haitian ambassador calls for continued cooperation
The Haitian ambassador Guy Lamothe explained that repatriating Haitians is not a definitive solution to the Haitian-DR migration problems. He said that the solution is to put behind us isolationism and promote strong, open cooperation, regardless of the two countries being independent and having very distinct cultures. A Dominican-Haitian bilateral commission is addressing these issues and the Dominican government is lobbying for international support for Haiti.
Lamothe emphasized the need to cooperate to find the funds that will help bring development to Haiti. He concurs with Dominican authorities that only an increase in well being in Haiti will bring a stop to the migration in large numbers. Lamothe says that the DR today is in great part dependent on Haiti for cheap labor for farm fields and construction industry. He says that the Haitians have moved on from working in the sugar fields to working in tomato and rice plantations and in urban construction works.
He said that the migration was caused by the slowing down of the Haitian economy, the political instability that brought about a drop in foreign investment and employment at free zones.
More so, Lamothe said that economic development in Haiti is in the best interest of Dominicans because Haiti is a big market for Dominican produce. He said that 77% of Dominican exports to the Caribbean were sent to Haiti.
He estimates that 300,000-400,000 work in the DR. Stats show that there are only 1,862 legal Haitian residents, and 1,693 legal refugees.
The DR and Haiti are divided by a 300 kilometer frontier that is easily crossed by anyone who cares to do so.
Sept 7 1999
8. Indigent Haitians burden frontier hospital finances
El Siglo newspaper reports that public hospitals in the frontier provinces spend 50% of their resources on servicing Haitian patients. For humanitarian reasons, public hospitals located from Pedernales to Monte Cristi, along the frontier, offer emergency services to Haitians. El Siglo reports that most of the cases they see are births, tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria, injuries, malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory infections. The public hospitals have to finance the transportation of the sick Haitians back to Haiti or to regional hospitals within the DR. Minister of Public Health Juan Octavio Ceballos recognizes the problem, but said that the authorities do not have a solution.
9/14/99
5. Haiti and DR sit down to bilateral talks
Haiti and the DR again sat down to three-day discussions of bilateral issues. The talks are held within the framework of the Interinstitutional Technical Committee on Dominican-Haitian Migratory Frontier Affairs. The talks are being held at the Diplomacy School of the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Santo Domingo. The issues that are being covered were agreed upon in a meeting held between Ministers of Foreign Relations Eduardo Latorre and Fritz Longchamps in Port au Prince in June 1998.
Among the issues are the following:
Personal documents and travel documents
Hiring of workers
Repatriation of illegal migrants
Regularizing of the situation of illegal residents
Sitting for the DR are officers from the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Ministry of Interior and Police, Ministry of Women, Ministry of Labor, Department of Migration, State Sugar Council (CEA), National Office of Lomé, National Council of Frontiers (Ministry of Foreign Relations). Wenceslao Guerrero Pou directs the discussions, in his role as ambassador in charge of Haitian affairs.
October 11 1999
6. Catholic Church denies request to nationalize Haitian children
The Conferencia del Episcopado Dominicano, the ruling body of the Roman Catholic Church in the DR, denied it was behind the request of Pastoral Juvenil Catholic Church group that requested the Dominican government give Dominican birth certificates to hundreds of Haitians that are born in the DR to Haitian parents, most of which do not have birth certificates themselves and live in extreme poverty in the DR.
Monsignor Francisco José Arnaiz, secretary general of the Episcopado, and spokesman for the religious group said that in 1996 the Dominican and Haitian Catholic churches established a joint position on the issue when in a joint declaration on 12 October 1996 they stated: "We are concerned that so many people lack an ID document, as having one in today¹s modern world is a fundamental right. We make an urgent call to governments of both countries so that to each it be demanded that they facilitate the procuring of the document."
The church spokesman said they maintain the same position. In the opinion of the Church, it is evident that one has to distinguish between the case of Dominican children and the case of the children born to Haitians that are illegal residents. He said that the cases need to be resolved following the legislation of each nation.
The Dominican Constitution does not grant Dominican nationality to the children born of Haitian parents. If one of the parents is a Dominican, than the child can acquire the nationality of the mother, but extensive paperwork has to be completed. The Haitian Constitution recognizes the children of Haitians as Haitians down to the third generation, regardless of where they are born.
Monsignor Arnaiz clarified that the position of the Pastoral Juvenil, spurred by Padre Luis Rosario, is not that of the Catholic Church. He denied that Cardinal Nicolás López Rodríguez had placed a calling to urge National Congress act on the matter, as reported in the Dominican press and picked up by this daily news service.
7. DR and Haiti advance on bilateral talks
Negotiators for the Dominican and Haitian governments made important advances during the most recent round of bilateral talks. The fourth round of meetings of the Bilateral Commission ended in Santo Domingo on Friday. Minister of Foreign Relations of Haiti Fritz Longchamp told the press that he is pleased with the progress. On Friday, agreements to deal with vandalism, drug trafficking and contraband along the frontier lines were signed. There were also advances on agreements regarding farming, education, culture, health, sports and tourism. The most difficult issue of all is that of migration, but Longchamps said that far from discouraging them, they are stimulated to double efforts to resolve this rapidly. The parties agreed to meet every six months until an agreement is reached. He called out for increasing joint efforts to confront poverty in both countries at the start of a new century, in these days of a modern dependent and solidarian world. He said they would be giving!
priority to continuing the talks and concertation. He announced that completion of the agreements for the protection and promotion of reciprocal investments, sports cooperation, and youth cooperation.
Major progress was made on the agreement regarding the circulation of vehicles through the frontier, restitution of stolen or retained vehicles, with a timetable set for three months to complete it.
The parties agreed to continue working on a tourism cooperation agreement to promote the development of a hotel industry in Haiti, train personnel, and exchange experiences. This will be a joint effort of the local association of hotels (Asonahores) and the Tourism Association of Haiti.
The countries will increase cultural and educational activities, and progress was made towards the installing of a Dominican culture house in Port au Prince and a Haitian culture house in Santo Domingo. The parties agreed on preparing a compilation of Haitian and Dominican authors.
Discussions also advanced on environmental issues, focusing on biodiversity, and the struggle to confront the turning of the land into a desert. Haiti committed to complete the draft of the plan for the managing of the borderline Artibonito River so that cooperation can be secured from international organizations. Likewise, the parties agreed to work together for the creation of a bi-national fund for the conservation of the environment, with emphasis on marine-coastal areas and frontier areas.
Both parties agreed to increase sanitary control programs, seek financing for swine cholera eradication program, and modernizing of the farm sanitation programs, as well as farm plague controls.
Other joint projects focus on frontier infrastructure, bilateral trade talks.
October 12 1999
6. Vitamins for children and pregnant women
The Ministry of Public Health announced it is about to start several programs to provide vitamins (vitamin A, iron and folic acid) to children under five years of age and pregnant women. The Panamerican Health Organization and the US Agency for International Development have helped put together the programs. Also contemplated is the start of a nutrition educational campaign targeted at mothers. The vitamins will be available at public vaccination points and at public hospitals. Likewise, children will be measured to check if they are growing on schedule. The government also is encouraging corn meal and wheat flour manufacturers to fortify their products with vitamins. Programs are coordinated by Matilde Josefina Vásquez, director of the National Department of Nutrition of the Ministry of Public Health.
8. ONGs pay US$1,500 to Haitians to give birth in DR
The legal consultant of the Executive Branch, Dr. Abel Rodríguez del Orbe denounced that there are non-governmental organizations that pay US$1,000-US$1,500 for Haitian women to give birth here. The press note says that the moneys are being paid to Dominican physicians and clinics that assist the women in the labor. He said the object is that the children of Haitians be given Dominican birth certificates. Rodríguez del Orbe said that this will create an "explosion of incalculable consequences in 20 to 25 years". He said that even when these persons may have Dominican birth certificates, they will be brought up as Haitians, not Dominicans, as both cultures are very different. He commented that the persons will grow up in Haiti, and one day will come to the DR saying they are Dominicans.
"If necessary, for humanitarian reasons, the women that live near the frontier may give birth here, if we can provide the service, we agree to that but to nationalize as Dominicans, persons that are not Dominicans, is a crime."
He said it is the Haitian consulate that has the responsibility of providing the birth certificates to the Haitians that are born in Dominican territory. The Dominican constitution does not regard persons born of illegal parents as Dominicans.
The controversy arose when Father Luis Rosario of the Pastoral Juvenil of the Catholic Church requested that Congress consider legislating so that all those born in the DR may receive Dominican nationality. The Catholic Church hierarchy later denied that the request of Father Rosaro was that of the Dominican Catholic Church. Local authorities recognize that the children of Haitians have a problem when registering in school or at the time of graduating. The Haitian Embassy in the DR has been contributing by assisting thousands of Haitians that entered the DR without any legal documentation, to get their Haitian nationality papers.
Supreme Court president Jorge Subero Isa reaffirmed recently that the Constitution is clear on the issue when it states that the Dominican nationality will be given to: "All persons born in the Dominican territory, with the exception of the legitimate sons of foreign diplomats and those that are in transit." The illegal Haitian residents are considered "in transit" and thus do not merit Dominican nationality. The Haitian Constitution, in turn, recognizes through the third generation sons and daughters of Haitians, regardless of whether they are born abroad or of one foreign parent.
6. 30% of babies born in Santiago hospitals are born to Haitians
El Siglo reports that eight of every 24 births in the Jose Maria Cabral y Baez Hospital, the largest public hospital in Santiago, the Dominican Republic's second largest city, are Haitians. Dr. Daniel Espinal, director of the hospital, said that for humanitarian reasons, all patients arriving in emergency condition to the hospital will be attended to regardless of where they come from. Press reports have been carrying stories of the increasing number of Haitian women that are giving birth in the DR, and the plight of undocumented Haitian children, most born to parents that themselves do not have birth certificates or identity papers. While the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that because of the in transit status of their parents they do not qualify for Dominican citizenship, the topic has been of major concern because of the social problem that is in the making in the medium and long term.
. DR issues identity cards to illegal Haitians
The Dominican government formally presented at the United Nations' most recent General Assembly meeting held in New York City its efforts to issue identity cards to Haitians residing illegally in the DR. Most Haitians that come to work in the DR do not have identity documents of any kind. The issuing of identity cards would transitorily legitimize their residence in the DR. The cards are being issued to help resolve the situation of the offspring of otherwise undocumented Haitians. These by Dominican law are admitted to Dominican schools but have problems in getting their graduation titles because the Ministry of Education requires that they have birth certificates. The Dominican government's traditional stance has been that these children should be issued birth certificates by the Haitian consulates in the DR. The Haitian consulates would like the DR to issue the children Dominican birth certificates.
Several legal experts say the Dominican constitution excepts the children of persons "in transit" from being granted Dominican nationality. Others say that persons that have resided in the DR for upwards of 10 years can no longer be regarded as being in transit. On the other hand, Dominican legal experts point to the Haitian Constitution that recognizes as Haitians the sons and daughters born of a Haitian parent, through the third generation.
Because of the increasing number of cases, the matter has now become headline news.
Meanwhile, the government continues to issue the cards to undocumented Haitians seeking a temporary solution.
"It is the singular interest of the Dominican government to make transparent the legal status of the clandestine Haitian migrants by issuing cards so that those that do not have birth certificates, nor passport nor Haitian ID cards, may transitorily legitimize their stay in the country," says a report presented to a special committee of the United Nations.
5. DR would contribute to health center in Haiti
The director of the leading central regional hospital, the Hospital José María Cabral y Báez of Santiago, Dr. Daniel Espinal urged the international community cooperate to build a medical center near the Haitian frontier with the Dominican Republic. At present, because of the deficiencies in the Haitian system, hundreds of Haitian women are traveling to the DR to give birth in local public clinics. This is putting a major burden on social services, plus is creating a potential international conflict as international organizations debate whether the children born in these centers are Dominicans or Haitians.
Dr. Espinal says the Haitian women primarily are coming seeking better health conditions in which to give birth. Dr. Espinal says the numbers are increasing and he is seeking upwards of 70 births to illegal Haitians per month at his hospital. Many more Haitians give birth in public hospitals that are near the frontier, such as that at Jimaní and Dajabón.
Dr. Espinal forecasts an increase in Haitian births as the economic situation in Haiti worsens.
He feels that a proactive solution would be to lobby to get the international community to help build a hospital in the frontier that would assist the Haitian women. He said the Dominican Republic would contribute medical personnel as needed, and assist in other ways.
6. Haiti's ambassador highlights increase in joint ventures
Haitian ambassador in the DR, Guy Lamothe spoke about the increase in trade between the DR and Haiti and the increase in Haitian-Dominican business joint ventures in the past three years. He said that what is most important is to promote cooperation between both nations. In his opinion, the isolation of both countries must become a thing of the past.
"We are going to have in the next century not Haitian or Dominican products, but products of the island that can compete with other trading blocs of the Caribbean or Latin America," he forecast. He says that there has been an increase in talk fostered by the chambers of commerce and business groups.
Jean Edouard Baker, president of the Haitian Presidential Commission for Economic Development and Georges Brunet, president of the Development Assistance Associates were in the DR this week to promote Dominican investments in Haiti.
They mentioned that already the communities of Juana Mendez and Cap Haitien consume 75% of Dominican produce.
He would like to see more Dominicans investing in Haitian free zones. At present in Haiti there are only two free zones, while there are 40 industrial parks in the DR.
If conditions could be created, installing free zones in Haiti could be good business for local free zone operators. At present, Dominican textile operators are held back after meeting textile quota limits, but this is not true for Haiti. Neither does Haiti have the obligation to import materials from the United States, and Haitian companies can manufacture apparel with lower cost Asian materials. Thus, local free zone consortiums have begun to explore the possibility of setting up parallel operations in Haiti.
Jean Edouard Baker, president of the Haitian Presidential Commission for Economic Development, spoke at a luncheon of the Herrera Industrial Association pointing out how Haiti seeks to stimulate confidence in foreign investors and is now reaching out to Dominican businessmen so there may be an increase in cooperation between both private sectors.
4. Haitian acting ambassador comments on Haitian migration
Speaking on a television program, Guy Lamothe, acting Haitian ambassador in the DR, said that Haitian women that cross the frontier to give birth are in transit and merely seek better medical care. He said regardless of their being born here, there is no question that those children are Haitians. He favored the Haitian government building hospitals along the frontier to offer services to these women. The director of the regional hospital of Santiago recently advocated that the DR lobby to secure international assistance to build a hospital along the Haitian frontier. He said Dominican medics could staff the hospital.
Lamothe said that only humanitarian interests are behind the efforts of non-governmental organizations that assist Haitian women to cross the frontier to give birth. He said the Haitian women cross over because of the unequal life conditions on both sides of the frontier. He spoke on the television program, "Diplomacia, Politica & Comercio", produced by David Toribio on Telesistema, Channel 11.
In his opinion, it is up to the DR to decide whether to grant Dominican citizenship to the children of Haitians that have been living in the DR for years.
Lamothe said that in May 1995, then President Jean Bertrand Aristide decreed that the Haitian embassy in the DR could issue legal identity documentation to Haitians residing in the DR. He said that the Haitian Constitution recognizes the children of Haitians as Haitians through the third generation, regardless of where they are born. He said it is not true that Haitians born here are stateless since they have the right to the nationality of their parents.
He praised the decision of the Dominican government to issue identity cards to the thousands of Haitians that do not have any legal identification. This is so because most Haitians cross the frontier without any legal documentation. In Haiti it is more common for a person not to have any legal documentation than for the person to have legal documentation.
5. Haitians born of illegal residents are not being issued birth certificates
Frank Lendor, who is in charge of the Dirección Central del Estado Civil, the local department in charge of issuing birth certificates in the DR, said it is not true that the children of Haitians born here are being issued Dominican birth certificates. He said only those that are born to parents that can demonstrate legal residence in the DR can receive Dominican birth certificates, as per established in the Dominican Constitution.
In an interview with Ultima Hora Dominical, he said up to 300,000 children could be in this situation. (This situation should also affect children born to foreigners of other nationalities that are not legal residents of the DR.)
As is their custom in Haiti, most Haitians living in the DR do not have legal documents. This is creating social problems as they grow up and many begin to integrate into Dominican society, encountering the difficulties of not having any legal documentation. While local schools by law have to admit all, the Ministry of Education will not issue diplomas to those that do not have birth certificates. Some have been able to secure Haitian identification documents at the Haitian embassy to resolve their situation. The Haitian embassy says some 30,000 identity documents have been issued since 1995.
Lendor explained that the situation of not being declared at birth in the past also affected low income Dominicans. To resolve this situation, the Dominican government, through the Junta Central Electoral, began a program to issue birth certificates at public hospitals starting October 1997. In its first year, the birth certificates were issued in five public hospitals. Today, there are 27 public hospitals issuing the birth certificates, including seven along the frontier with Haiti. These are the hospitals of Jaime Mota (Barahona), Federico Armando Aybar (Las Matas de Farfán), Rosa Duarte (Comendador), San Bartolomé (Neyba) and General Melenciano (Jimaní).
All Dominican hospitals will issue the parents a written confirmation that the child (given name) was born at such hospital on such date. The birth is registered in the hospital's books. The second step is to meet with the civil registry official who will issue the child's birth certificate to parents that can present legal residence documents or proof of Dominican citizenship.
Oct 28 1999
3. Haitian children to be given DR ID documents
Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations Minou Tavarez Mirabal, in an interview in Hoy newspaper, says that the government has plans to provide the children of illegal Haitians with Dominican ID documents, regardless of whether they were born in the DR or in Haiti. These will be recognized by the Ministry of Education and will enable them to graduate from school, and receive other basic services.
The Dominican Constitution makes an education mandatory for all those living in the DR, regardless of their status. But the children have confronted difficulties in getting their educational certificates (6th and 12th grade) because they lack birth certificates. Even if there is proof the children were born here, Dominican law does not provide for granting Dominican birth certificates to the children of those residing illegally in the DR.
Yesterday, when attending the Santo Domingo cyberpark ground-breaking ceremony, Haitian acting ambassador Guy Lamothe urged the Dominican government to issue birth certificates to the 280,000 children of Haitians born in the DR so these could get an education. The Dominican government has sustained the Haitian consulate should be issuing Haitian birth certificates to these children. The Haitian Constitution recognizes the children of Haitians as Haitians. The issuing of the ID documents would be a temporary solution to a long-standing problem.
Director of the Department of Migration, Danilo Díaz said that the Dominican government cannot issue birth certificates to the children of individuals that themselves have no identification document. Most Haitians that cross the frontier do not have any ID documentation. Among the poor in Haiti getting a birth certificate for their children is the least of their worries. As a result, most Haitian adults are undocumented individuals. The Department of Migration is also issuing ID cards to the adults.
The deputy minister said that while the DR cannot solve the internal problems of Haiti, it can make contributions to democracy, institutionality and economic development in Haiti. She recalled that when Haiti was intervened by the international community to restore Jean Bertrand Aristide, promises for international aid were made. These have not materialized and poverty in Haiti has worsened. Migration to the DR has been a way to lessen the social pressures in Haiti.
Mirabal stressed that while Haiti's economic and political problems are not our responsibility, they are our problems because, "el Masacre se pasa a pie," or the Masacre River that divides the two nations can be crossed by foot (making a reference to the title of a renown book by Dominican author Freddy Prestol Castillo).
"For the past 40 years, Dominicans have lived like ostriches, believing the Haitian problem will disappear if we don't talk about it," she said.
The Dominican government has promoted bilateral talks within the framework of a Dominican-Haitian commission, but the migration issue is complex.
4. Haitian beggars invade Puerto Plata
The president of the Playa Dorada Hotel Association, former Puerto Plata senator Rafael Silverio Galán denounced that a mafia seems to be behind the trucking into Puerto Plata of indigent Haitians that are begging in the main public areas. He said the beggars harass both Dominicans and tourists. In a report in the Listín Diario, he urged the authorities to put a stop to the trafficking with the Haitians and the waves of beggars. "There is a rumor that those Haitians are transported here by a gang of Dominican and Haitian traffickers that seek to profit from the miserable aspect of the beggars. The women come with small children in their arms, and then disappear at days end. The next day a different group of beggars is brought in from Haiti," he denounced.
6. 26% Dominican children are obese
Dr. Ruth Báez, president of the Dominican Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition says that 26% of the Dominican population suffers from obesity. She said that obesity has increased as eating at fast food restaurants has become more and more popular. She said that a national nutritional campaign is needed to raise an awareness of the importance of eating fruits and vegetables.
7. New hotel in Dominicus beach
The Coral Canoa Beach Resort & Spa will be the third hotel to open up at the Dominicus beach strip in southeastern La Romana. The Coral Canoa is slated to open Monday, 1 November. It has 536 rooms (476 superior and deluxe, 40 junior suites, 16 penthouse suites and four one-bedroom villas with jacuzzi). The hotel will have four restaurants, five bars, a discotheque, pools, gym, game area, sports center, children's club, tennis courts, amphitheater, two rooms for meetings (200 and 150 persons), and a spa area.
The local Coral hotel chain invested US$30 million in the property. The company also announced plans to invest an additional US$34 million in expansion and improvements of its properties in the DR, including 90 additional rooms at the Coral Costa Caribe in Juan Dolio, a 200 room hotel in Samaná and another hotel in Santo Domingo.
Other hotels along the Dominicus Beach strip are the Viva Dominicus, the Dominicus Palace (opening this winter) and the Gran Dominicus. The Gran Dominicus and Viva Dominicus primarily cater to the Italian tourist, the Dominicus Palace will attempt to attract the US market, and the Coral Canoa will receive primarily German tourists.
October 29, 1999
2. New Migration Bill to be sent to Congress
Minister of Foreign Relations Eduardo Latorre says the Executive Branch will soon present a modified Migration Bill to the National Congress. The bill will establish new rulings regarding the situation of foreigners in the DR. While the main focus of the bill is to provide a legal framework for the thousands of Haitians that are illegally crossing the frontier between the DR and Haiti, it will regulate the status of foreigners of any other nationality. The Dominican Migration Law dates to 1939.
3. DR and Cuban physicians attend 90% of Haitians in frontier areas
El Siglo newspaper reports that Dominican and Cuban physicians serve 90% of the Haitian population in towns near the frontier with the Dominican Republic.
The story reports on the small contingents of Cuban physicians based in a few clinics located in rural Haiti near the large Dominican cities of Dajabón and Juana Mendez that have been successful in reducing the number of Haitians that cross the frontier. Recently, Dominican authorities have urged the securing of international cooperation to set up clinics near the Dominican-Haitian frontier, that could be staffed by Dominican medics to reduce the burden on Dominican public hospitals.
The Dominican public hospitals of General Melenciano in Jimaní and Rosa Duarte in Elías Piña receive the largest numbers of Haitians. The Haitians prefer the Dominican clinics because they are the closest medical centers and services are better and free. The clinics will even pay for the transporting of the patients to large medical centers if necessary. Haitian rural clinics are staffed with a doctor and a nurse, and there is a charge for whatever services may be available.
The director of the Elías Piña hospital, Rafael Robles, said that that hospital has to dedicate 60% of its budget to service the Haitians. El Siglo reporters ascertained that the Haitians have access to the same services as the Dominicans.
The physicians say the Dominicans are concerned they may catch contagious diseases which affect a good number of Haitians visiting the public hospitals. Medical directors say this is an additional financial burden on the hospitals that will now have to build separate wards for the increase in patients with contagious diseases.
