Dominican Republic boosts security on border with crisis-ridden Haiti

In response to the growing hostility in neighboring Haiti, the Dominican Republic has announced a number of measures to improve border security and strengthen immigration control.

Despite calls for his country to relax stringent policies as Haitians seek refuge from the wracking country, President Luis Abinader announced on Sunday that security would be increased.

The Dominican leader, who was re-elected last year on promises to reduce immigration, said in a speech that “we will step up surveillance of the borders with 1, 500 additional troops, on top of 9, 500 already deployed.”

The two nations, which share the second-largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba, are now in agreement on the construction of a new section of a wall, according to Abinader.

The border between the two nations is 186 miles long and has more than 300 kilometers of separation. The border wall’s completion spans roughly 54 kilometers (33 miles).

According to the president, his most recent decree would “speed up the construction of the border wall” by adding an additional 13 kilometers (8 miles).

According to Abinader, legal reforms are also on the horizon in order to deter those who facilitate the entry and stay of immigrants.

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The Dominican Republic is now looking at Haiti’s growing crisis as the border measures are increased.

An alliance of gangs seized control of the nation’s largest city of Port-au-Prince last year as violence broke out dramatically, causing chaos.

The transitional government in Haiti has been unable to stop the violence, which has resurgence over the past month or so, despite the efforts of a Kenyan peacekeeping force, which is made up of roughly 1, 000 people.

More than 5,600 people died in 2024, according to the UN, and more than one million people have been displaced, many of whom are refugees in the Dominican Republic’s neighbor.

In recent months, the Dominican Republic has implemented stringent deportation measures, with the intention of repatriating up to 10,000 Haitians per week.

In response to these reports of human rights violations, advocates urge nations in the Americas, particularly the United States and the Dominican Republic, to put an end to deportations in Haiti because of the grim conditions there.