Haiti’s crisis rises to the forefront of elections in neighboring Dominican Republic

VERON, Dominican Republic — As hovering violence and political turmoil fondle neighboring Haiti, the Dominican Republic will retain elections Sunday which were outlined by means of requires extra crackdowns on migrants and completing a border wall dividing the international locations.

Politics within the two Caribbean countries sharing the island of Hispaniola have lengthy been intertwined. Haiti’s spiral into chaos lately has coincided with a harsh crackdown by means of its Dominican neighbor.

President Luis Abinader, a sunlit frontrunner race as he seeks reelection within the presidential race, has begun to develop a Trump-like border wall alongside Haiti’s border and performed aggregate deportations of 175,000 Haitians simply utmost generation. Dominicans additionally shall be opting for participants of Congress.

“We will continue to deport everyone who is illegal from any country,” Abinader stated in a debate in overdue April. “A society that doesn’t do that is chaos and anarchy.”

Abinader, who has additionally pledged to beef up the family’s financial system, stated he would end development of the border wall with Haiti. His closest competition – former President Leonel Fernández and Santiago Mayor Abel Martínez – have echoed his shouts to ramp up the movements towards migration.

The crackdown has marked an intensification of longtime insurance policies by means of the Dominican executive that human rights teams have alleged are discriminatory and put inclined population in peril.

Fernández, of the Community’s Drive birthday party, stated Dominicans had been “afraid to go out into the streets” despite Abinader’s policies. He also said he would continue crackdowns while respecting human rights.

Dominican voters seem to be rewarding Abinader for the crackdown, with the incumbent favored to get more than the 50% support needed to win in the first round of voting. If no candidate reaches the 50% mark a runoff between the top vote-getters would be held.

Ana Pagán, a 34-year-old supervisor at a communications company in the country’s capital of Santo Domingo, said she approved of the border wall being built and the measures taken by the government.

“No foreigner who wants to stay here in the Dominican Republic should do so illegally, and that’s what (the government) has said,” she said.

However, Pagán said the wall doesn’t solve all of the country’s issues, and she referred to what have been the other key electoral issues for Dominicans: crime and endemic corruption. Pagán said many of the country’s security problems come from corrupt officials allowing smuggling and other crimes.

While Dominican voters want continued a government crackdown on migrants, many of the hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the Dominican Republic live in fear.

Haiti, long stricken by tragedy, has been in a downward spiral since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Gangs have warred for power, injecting terror and turmoil into the lives of many in the Caribbean nation.

In recent weeks – following the prime minister’s resignation – a transition council tasked with choosing Haiti’s new leaders has offered a small dose of hope of easing some of the country’s many woes.

The ongoing violence has forced many to flee their homes and seek refuge in places like the Dominican Republic and the United States. The Dominican government’s policies have stirred concerns among both newly arrived migrants and Haitians that have long called the Dominican Republic home.

Yani Rimpel, a 35-year-old Haitian businesswoman in the eastern city of Veron, has lived in the country for 20 years. She told the AP she’s never seen such uncertainty among Haitian communities, something she attributes to Abinader’s migratory policy.

Two weeks ago, she said immigration agents broke into her house at dawn with heavily armed soldiers in tow. She said they searched the house and stole cash she saved up to buy and sell merchandise, leaving her without any means to support herself.

“If (Abinader) stays in power, I can’t live here. I’m going to have to move back to my house in Haiti. Because here I have no value. I’m not safe. I don’t have a way to live here if he continues” as president, she stated.

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Megan Janetsky reported from Mexico Town.