Dominican President: Haiti deportations wonât stop
Luis Abinader refuses to âauthorise any refugee campsâ as crisis unfolds in neighbouring Haiti
The President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader has told HARDtalk that he will not stop deporting Haitians, despite the dire conditions across the border on the island of Hispaniola.
Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is among those who have asked the Dominican government to halt deportations of Haitians. Rejecting this, President Abinader responded that âthe UN is the one who has to act moreâ.
President Abinader, who is running for re-election in May, said he had been warning the UN for âmore than three yearsâ that Haiti was descending into âchaosâ. He insisted that âthey cannot ask the Dominican Republic to solve the Haitian problem. We will not do it and we cannot do itâ.
Speaking to Stephen Sackur, President Abinader also refused to âauthorise any refugee camps at this momentâ on Dominican soil. He cited âsecurity and also historical reasonsâ, suggesting that Haitian islands could be utilised for this purpose. The UN has estimated that over 350,000 Haitians have been internally displaced.