MADRID, 11 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, has criticized the declarations of the United Nations on the deportation of Haitians, assuring that his Executive will continue repatriating Haitian citizens to his country.
Abinader has expressed his “categorical” rejection of the “unacceptable and irresponsible” statements “offered by (the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) Volker Turk” this Thursday, in which he asked the countries of the region to stop deportations of Haitian migrants.
“The migration policy of each country is the power of each government, therefore, these statements are unacceptable and irresponsible,” said the Dominican president, as stated in a statement from the country’s Presidency.
In addition, he has assured that his Cabinet “will continue to repatriate Haitian citizens who are in the country illegally.”
In this line, Abinader – who has highlighted that his country “has been the most supportive among all the countries in the world” with the Haitian situation – has added that the Dominican Government will increase repatriations starting next week.
This Thursday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights insisted that the authorities of the Dominican Republic cease the forced returns of Haitians to the western margin of the island of Hispaniola.
“A week ago I called for deportations to Haiti to stop, given the humanitarian and human rights crisis the country is facing. I am concerned to see the continued forced returns of Haitians to Haiti from the Dominican Republic,” Turk said in a statement. release.
According to the UN High Representative, Haiti today does not meet the adequate security conditions for the “safe, dignified and sustainable” return of migrants given the “incessant armed violence and systematic violations of Human Rights.”
Hours earlier, the spokesman for the Presidency, Homero Figueroa, reported that between the months of August and October of this year, the Dominican authorities repatriated more than 60,200 Haitians, while throughout the year the figure increased to 108,000 Haitians.
