The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic (Mirex) issued a statement on the position of the United States embassy and the reinforcement of migration, which described the terms as counterproductive to the relationship between both nations.
Below is the full statement from Mirex
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its strongest rejection of the statement “Alert: Reinforcement of migration in the Dominican Republic” issued by the Embassy of the United States of America in the DR. this past Saturday, November 19, considering it manifestly unfounded, untimely and unhappy.
The terms of said communiqué contradict the excellent bilateral relationship that exists between the Dominican Republic and the United States in all spheres: political, economic, military, social, and cooperation, whether in matters of drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms and ammunition smuggling. , corruption or the fight against impunity, among others.
Our country is the first trading partner of the United States in the Caribbean and the sixth in Latin America. We have been one of America’s most trusted allies in maintaining a free, open, prosperous, and secure international system for all nations. In this vein, we founded the Alliance for Development in Democracy, to promote democratic values and human rights.
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Since the beginning of this government, we have repeatedly and systematically denounced before the international community the alarming situation in Haiti, aggravated since the assassination of President Moise, without it having taken the appropriate measures to confront the explosive humanitarian, social and political reality. in the neighboring country, which seriously affects the national security of the Dominican Republic.
For several decades, the bulk of the burden has fallen, particularly in terms of migration, on our country. An important part of the current Dominican health budget is dedicated, free of charge, to the foreign population, primarily Haitian: 32.4% of the maternity beds in our public hospitals; 10.3% of emergencies; 14.9% of hospitalizations; 9.8% of surgeries; 8.3% of the queries.
Without the support of the international community, we have made an extraordinary effort to keep the border open to allow the Haitian population access to vital food, medicine, fuel, water, etc. Likewise, we have kept the commercial flow open, despite the number of kidnappings of Dominicans, including a diplomat from our embassy in Haiti. For their part, our armed forces unilaterally bear the high cost of providing security to the entire border between the two countries, maintaining some 9,000 troops in that place.
Just like every sovereign country that repatriates the foreign population in an irregular migratory situation, including the US, the Dominican Republic has been forced to deport a high number of Haitian migrants who no longer tolerate the situation in that country and who overwhelm Dominican possibilities. Dominican Republic can’t take it anymore.
By way of contrast, the same Biden administration has deported to Haiti, between February 2021 and February 2022, more than 20,000 Haitian migrants.
The Government of the United States has not provided any evidence, beyond anecdotal cases without independent verification, that there is a systematic pattern of violations of the rights of migrants, ordered by the Dominican authorities. Isolated cases could occur, as in any part of the world, which, if reported to the relevant authorities, would be duly investigated and punished, if their veracity were proven.
The Dominican Government would never have imagined such serious insinuations about our country, whose population evidences “in its skin color” a wide melting pot of races; much less of an ally who has been the subject of numerous accusations of xenophobic and racist treatment of migrants and even sectors of his own population.
The Dominican Republic strives to provide hospitable treatment to the millions of tourists who visit us annually from the four corners of the planet, particularly from the United States. Our economy depends to a large extent on the comfort and safety of each of these foreign visitors, of which more than a million and a half have come from the United States this year, with overwhelmingly positive experiences, regardless of their race or socio-economic status. economic.
The November 19 communiqué could have a negative impact on thousands of Dominican workers, as well as on our economy, even if this was not its objective. Accordingly, we hope that the US government will consider removing the unverified terms of this ambiguous statement as soon as possible.
The Dominican Republic is a country whose friendly population opens its arms to anyone who visits and lives legally on our borders, “without any distinction of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national or social origin.” economic position, birth or any other condition”. The cheerful spirit and the hospitable warmth of the Dominican will never change.
The government and the Dominican people will continue to provide all the support, within their possibilities, to the sister Haitian people. No country has made a greater effort than the DR, advocating for the international community to help Haiti, but we declare once again with all the necessary vigor that there is not -nor can there ever be- a Dominican solution to the Haitian odyssey.
