In light of plans by the Government of the Dominican Republic (DR) to deport thousands of Haitians due to gang violence and poverty in that country, President Dr Irfaan Ali has since engaged the Chairman of Caricom, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell to derive an action plan to prevent further harm to them.
On Tuesday, the Dominican Republic disclosed that it has deported or repatriated nearly 11,000 Haitians in the past week, fulfilling a pledge to do so weekly as it scrambles to handle the influx while besieged by gang violence and poverty.
The Dominican government plans to deport up to 10,000 Haitians a week, and this prompted Haitian officials to request an emergency meeting at the Organization of American States (OAS). At least half a million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, according to human rights groups.
However, the Guyanese Head of State on Tuesday told media operatives that Caricom is committed to tackling this and other issues affecting Haitians as a unit.
He disclosed that the matter will be discussed at length during an upcoming meeting among Leaders of Caricom Member States where security is high on the agenda.
“We delve into the matters and I know that in our upcoming meetings, we have a meeting on security, a special meeting on security. This issue will be raised. I know the Chair of CARICOM is already flagging this issue for the course of discussion. We will have a collective perspective. I do have an individual perspective, but let us wait until we have the collective perspective of the region,” Ali stated.
The DR Government had stated that the deportation is necessary citing an “excess” of immigrants as relations between the countries that share the island of Hispaniola continue to sour. These are the largest such deportations in recent history there.
Earlier in the year, thousands of Haitians started to leave their homeland amid political violence. However, as a means of bringing back normalcy to that country, Caricom led by President Dr. Irfaan Ali who was Chairman at the time managed to initiate a Transitional Presidential Council.
The Transitional Presidential Council is tasked with guiding Haiti towards elections, the restoration of order, helping identify an interim Prime Minister and replacing the then Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, among others.
The presidential council’s mandate expires in February 2026, by when elections must be held.
Haiti has been engulfed in turmoil since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Since then, the streets have been overrun by gangs, and there has been a continuous cycle of violence.
That violence flared even more when, in February, criminal gangs in the capital Port-au-Prince conducted coordinated attacks targeting Police Stations, prisons, critical infrastructure, and civilian sites in the city.
On March 2, armed gang members raided two penitentiaries, reportedly freeing some 3800 inmates, after which Haitian authorities announced a three-day State of Emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew.
