Sawt Falasteen - Dominican Republic reports sharp rise in Haitian migrant deportations

Boosting deportations to Haiti -- the region's poorest nation which is ravaged by gang violence -- was a campaign promise of Dominican President Luis Abinader, reelected in May 2024 for a second term.

"The General Directorate of Migration (DGM) repatriated 32,540 Haitian citizens in irregular migratory status in the country in April, to complete the figure of 119,003 in the four-month period January-April 2025," the agency said in a statement.

This figure "represents an increase of 71% compared to the same period of the previous year," it added. In 2024, there were a total of 276,215 deportations.

The Dominican Republic in late April began raids on public hospitals to arrest undocumented pregnant women and mothers with newborns in a crackdown on arrivals from neighboring Haiti.

Rights groups have criticized the measure as "cruel."

President Abinader has also announced plans to extend a 54-kilometer (33-mile) wall between the Caribbean nations, which share the island of Hispaniola, and recently deployed more troops to the border.

About 500,000 Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, a country of 11.3 million people, according to official data.

H.Darwish--SF-PST