Haiti and the Dominican Republic, despite sharing an island, have always had tense and complex relations. For both governments, in our case the Dominican government, regardless of nationality, the Haitian issue presents a challenge when it comes to assuming the presidency.
Not much time passes without the Dominican-Haitian issue dominating the headlines of national newspapers, for various reasons, sometimes reasonable and other times due to groups on both sides that constantly provoke disagreements between neighboring countries.
Haitians have once again dominated the national agenda in the last two weeks, this time due to an incident at the Ciudad Juan Bosch housing complex in Santo Domingo East. Allegedly, Haitian nationals led violent acts against members of the General Directorate of Migration, the agency that has proceeded to repatriate construction workers and all Haitian residents in the area en masse
the Government , through the National Migration Council (CNM), issued a public statement granting a three-month period for companies and employers who have hired foreigners irregularly to do so in accordance with the statutes based on Law 285-04 or the General Migration Law.
The Minister of the Interior and Police, Jesús Vásquez, warned at the time that the Interior and Police and the Ministry of Labor would monitor articles 135 to 140 of the Labor Code of the Dominican Republic, which establishes the proportionality of foreign workers hired (80% Dominicans and up to 20% foreigners) by a particular company or person.
It is imperative that Dominican authorities strengthen immigration instruments to better control the entry and stay of Haitian workers, given the need to conduct rigorous inspections on the hiring of foreign labor, regarding its proportion in relation to Dominicans and its legal status.
But the authorities also have an obligation to ensure that these processes are carried out without violating the rights of these immigrants, guaranteeing the full protection of their civil rights, and without abuse of power or discrimination.
Haitian labor in Dominican construction is a reality, and although the Labor Code establishes 80% Dominican and 20% foreign hiring, the truth is that in this sector this proportion is reversed.
Dominicans and Haitians have an obligation to foster harmonious relations and stop the passions of hatred and resentment that usually tend to unleash these episodes, in order to preserve peace and avoid new violent events.
