DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-MIGRATION-Thousands of Haitians deported from Dominican Republic in July

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Aug 4, CMC – More than 13,000 Haitians were deported from the Dominican Republic during the month of July, according to official figures released here.
The head of the General Directorate of Migration (DGM), Lieutenant-General Maximo William Muñoz Delgado, said that 13,446 Haitians were deported last month with 6,545 being intercepted at one of the 100 checkpoints established in the border area at various unofficial crossing points.
deportedThe official said that the other 6,901 Haitians were arrested during migration controls throughout the country.
Haitians arrested are then transferred to a specialized center where they are identified before their repatriation.
Muñoz Delgado, acknowledges that this is an unprecedented number of deportees over a single month, indicating that the average number usually varies between 5,000 and 6,000 each month.
He said that the Dominican migration services will open three new illegal foreigners’ reception centers in Azua, Puerto Plata and Nagua, tourist areas where a large number of illegal foreign nationals, most of whom are of Haitian origin, are found.
Haiti’s Defence Minister, Hervé Denis, travels to the Dominican Republic next week as the Spanish speaking country steps up its deployment of troops along the borders between the two countries.
Denis is expected to discuss the process of withdrawal of the United Nations Multinational Interim Force (MIF) after then President Bertrand Aristide departed Haiti for exile in the aftermath of an armed conflict, which spread, to several cities across the country.