HAVANA—As a mass number of migrants flee Haiti, the Dominican Republic—its island neighbor—has responded with stronger border policies and a military buildup the government claims will “guarantee border security.”
On Sunday, Dominican President Luis Abinader announced the country’s biggest purchase of military gear since 1961–six helicopters, ten aircraft, 21 armored vehicles, and four anti-riot trucks.
If international troops are sent in response to an appeal by Haiti’s government for help against gangs, “We would close and block the border … It’s very dangerous for the integrity of the Dominican Republic to receive asylum seekers in the country,” Abinader said in a press conference.
Dominican officials also announced that they would consider even greater migratory controls on the Haitian border in the future.
Tensions have long simmered between the two nations, which share a more than 240-mile border on the island of Hispaniola.
Haiti’s crisis has been exacerbated by the 2021 assassination of ex-Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and gangs have gained increasing power in confronting a weak government. That has spurred a massive flight of migrants and the Dominican Republic has gradually grown more hardline with its migratory and border policies.
Dominican Republic has also begun construction of a Trump-style wall along the border.
One of Haiti’s most powerful gangs—as well as anti-government protesters—have laid siege to key fuel supplies in Port-au-Prince, causing shortages not just of fuel, but water and other basic supplies. Abinader previously described Haiti’s turmoil as a “low-intensity civil war.”
As a result, the UN Security Council is considering a request by Haiti’s government to send foreign troops to pacify the gangs, or at least alleviate the blockade.
The disorder has amplified fears by many Dominicans like Paterno Valenzuela that gang violence could trickle into their own country.
Valenzuela, 56, is a farmer along the border town of Elias Pina, and said while he hasn’t seen an uptick in violence in his area, he is “preparing because this crisis in Haiti is really bad.”
The Dominican farmer described seeing large groups of migrants climbing through the mountains fleeing the country and expressed concern about rising contraband like gasoline flowing across the border. He said he would support a foreign intervention if it were to come to that.
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