The Ministry of Defense asked the Director of Immigration, Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Leer Ballester, to strengthen immigration control measures to prevent Dominican military personnel from leaving the country through ports and airports without the corresponding permits.
This request is contained in official letter 45335, signed by the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Antonio Fernández Onofre, dated October 23, an initiative that he assures is in accordance with article 219 of Organic Law 139-13 of the forces armed forces of the Dominican Republic.
This week, the General Directorate of Immigration has requested an identity card from all people planning to leave the country, under the pretext of avoiding identity theft, a decision that was made days after the letter sent by Defense.
“In accordance with 219 of Organic Law 139-13, organic of the armed forces, of the Dominican Republic, immigration control measures are strengthened with regard to members of the armed forces who intend to travel abroad for the different ports and airports of the country, without the corresponding authorization from this office,” states the Ministry of Defense in its letter.
Likewise, Fernández Onefre thanks Leer Ballester for arranging that when cases of this nature are detected, it is immediately communicated to the members of the Intelligence Directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (J-2) of the Ministry of Defense for the purposes.
Copies
The document, sent to the Immigration Directorate, to which El Nacional had access, establishes sending copies to the vice ministers of Defense for Military Affairs and for naval affairs, for air and special affairs, as well as the inspector of the armed forces; to the head of the Army, the Navy of the Dominican Republic and the Air Force.
Extent
After the provision was established, some travelers have complained that the request for the ID at Immigration, in addition to the passport, has created chaos at airports, especially in Las Americas.
“The document required to travel is the passport, but we are requesting the ID as a mechanism to validate identification and avoid identity theft,” the Immigration Directorate stated in a statement to explain the reason for the requirement.
Passports
For his part, the general director of Passports, Lorenzo Ramírez, stated yesterday, when approached about it, that he was not consulted by Immigration to request ID cards from Dominicans when leaving the territory.
However, he clarified that the Immigration Directorate is a national security entity and that is why it has the power to carry out these operations.
Ramírez added that his office has not received reports of falsification of notebooks, defending the validity of that document.
Transient
Yesterday the Immigration Directorate clarified that this measure is temporary, so it asked travelers for patience. Through its press department, the entity says that those who do not have their ID when traveling, only have to give their number to the Immigration officer to continue their trip.
