Dominicans Protest Against Haitian Migrants

Santo Domingo: Dozens of Dominicans on Sunday protested against the presence of undocumented migrants from neighboring Haiti, backing President Luis Abinader's move to demand ID documents from those seeking hospital or maternity care.

It was the third demonstration in a month organized by the Old Dominican Order, a nationalist non-government organization that has decried the "Haitianization" of the country.

Protesters carried signs reading "Expel them already," "The Dominican Republic is for Dominicans," and "We're fed up" at the demonstration near the presidential palace.

Two buses transporting Haitian migrants detained by immigration agents passed by the protest site.

Abinader has taken a tough line on migration from crisis-ravaged Haiti since coming to power in 2020. The two countries share the island of Hispaniola, the second-biggest in the Caribbean after Cuba.

Earlier this month, Abinader unveiled a new protocol requiring medical staff to ask foreigners for identification documents, a letter from an employer, proof of residence and payment for their care.

Eighty-seven women and 48 children were arrested Monday in hospitals and maternity wards across the Caribbean nation. More than half of those women were pregnant, according to official figures. The rest had recently given birth.

The Dominican government has said that while migrants may receive medical care, they will be deported immediately afterwards if they are found to be in the country illegally.

Esmeralda Guerrero, a 59-year-old lawyer, said pregnant Haitian women should be allowed to give birth in Dominican hospitals, but then must go home.

"Aren't we the ones who should get priority? Our women are not the priority? It's not fair," said Guerrero.

Haiti -- the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere -- faces severe political instability, while swaths of the country are under the control of rival armed gangs who carry out widespread murders, rapes and kidnappings.

About 500,000 Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, a country of 10.5 million people, according to official data.

Abinader won reelection in May last year in part on the back of his tough immigration policies.

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