Haiti - Social : Risk of Dominican-Haitian clashes on January 3

Today, we are invaded by Haitians, they are responsible for most thefts and assaults committed in our neighborhoods, they throw garbage in the streets they live in boarding houses with no bathrooms and defecate in plastic bags that they throw them in front of houses, schools, businesses and other places, we are desperate" reported José Francisco Consuegra President of the Council of district of La Mina. Recalling that a survey conducted by community groups in San Jose and La Mina estimated between 1.800 to 2.700 the population of undocumented Haitian living in these neighborhoods, without counting another 400 which are arrived last Saturday, said Consuegra.

Residents of neighborhoods of San Jose, Mina and Cristo Rey in the south of Santiago (North) in Dominican Republic, explained in the Dominican press, that if on January 3, 2011 the Directorate General of Immigration did not take steps to arrest and repatriate illegal Haitian population living in their neighborhoods, the population will expel them by force.

José Francisco Consuegra has insisted that the attitude of people is not racist or discriminatory, but now he finds that the Haitians outnumber Dominicans in their neighborhoods.

An officer of the immigration authorities, under cover of anonymity, acknowledged that its services actually received dozens of complaints each day from these communities concerning crime or incivility on Haitians, recalling that its services can not follow all these complaints its office being mobilized on the prevention and control of illegal border crossings.

The same source said that what the people intended to do was dangerous and that immigration services could not tolerate it, not excluding taking steps to protect Haitians facing deportation in order avoid unwanted confrontations.

For their part, residents of San Jose and La Mina complained that some of undocumented Haitian carry knives and threatened the Dominicans to use them if people tried to evict them. However before the risk of confrontation and threats of Dominicans, hundreds of Haitians have left "voluntarily..." these areas has indicated José Francisco Consuegra, but It remains more than 2,000... Reiterating the determination of the population, to deport Haitians on January 3 if they are still there "They outnumber us, threaten us and challenge us, but we will win..." said Consuegra.

HL/ HaitiLibre