What is the deal with these yolas to Puerto Rico?

B

Berzin

Banned
Nov 17, 2004
5,898
550
113
I just finished reading how 3 dominican women were found dead and washed ashore in Puerto Rico. I found this really sad and if I read the article correctly it was suggested that these poor souls were thrown overboard because they were suffering from dehydration.

Can someone enlighten me on the conditions these yolas operate under? I saw the movie "Viajeros" in Santo Domingo-is it really like that? Do certain people who pay a higher fee really get "VIP" treatment like in the movie?

One person interviewed for the article said he had paid 16,000 pesos for the trip but I heard the fee can be as high as 50,000.

Who are the boat operators? Do they head back to the DR once their "cargo" is unloaded? Do they really throw people overboard who are ill, hungry or dying of thirst?

How are these trips to hell organized? Is there any literature available on this topic, in english or in spanish?
 
Last edited:
R

Rocky

Honorificabilitudinitatibus
Apr 4, 2002
13,993
208
0
111
www.rockysbar.com
Here are a few threads about yola voyages.

http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/33742-28-80-survivors-missing-yola.html
http://www.dr1.com/forums/general-stuff/62066-any-more-news-about-boat-sank-off-mc.html
http://www.dr1.com/forums/general-stuff/58532-almost-5000-dominicans-crossed-page-ranking.html
http://www.dr1.com/forums/general-stuff/54926-boat-capsizing.html
http://www.dr1.com/forums/dominicans-abroad/39435-after-landing.html
http://www.dr1.com/forums/general-stuff/49699-yet-another-tragedy-folks-trying-flee-d-r.html
 
K

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
Yes, the come back. This is a business, just like the many who make lots of money bringing Mexicans across the border and into the US.
 
J

Janin

On Vacation....
Jul 31, 2007
548
0
0
Paradise Trips

Traficking humans has become big business all over the world as there's a steady flow of desperate people from Third-World countries or war zones to countries with a high living standard or better security.
Here a good number of deportees (who are flown in every Wednesday from the US) will go on the next available yola trip back to 'paradise' (which for them is not - as many gringos see it - the DR).

Janin
 
S

suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
5,823
290
0
55
Most of these trips are in fact successful. The going rate is anywhere between 35,000 to 60,000 pesos and as much as 100,00 pesos for trips in a yacht. If you only pay 16,000 pesos you can expect that the trip (if it happens at all) will probably be in a very old rickety yola that probably won't make it.

The dark side of this is that many, many people are scammed and they pay the money but are never taken to Puerto Rico. The people who organize these trips are absolutely ruthless and they don't think twice about killing a person or throwing them overboard to be drowned for any little reason or no reason at all. They pack these yolas to the hilt with double or triple the amount of people who should really be in there. It is a very perilous trip which takes two to three days and it's also extremely profitable. I know people in my hometown who are making a killing just serving as go betweens.

I know many people who have made it this way (including some in my own family), I know others who have been abandoned, and I also knew a few who have ended up dead trying to make it. Incredibly there are a few people I know who don't fear this at all and have made a few trips this way.

There's a lot of complicity from Puerto Ricans as well. The people along the coast also make a lot of money for protecting and giving shelter to new arrivees. It's a complicated business.
 
Bronxboy

Bronxboy

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2007
14,107
595
113
suarezn said:
There's a lot of complicity from Puerto Ricans as well. The people along the coast also make a lot of money for protecting and giving shelter to new arrivees. It's a complicated business.
Click to expand...

I am glad my people are helping out. See, we are not that bad!!!;)
 
S

suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
5,823
290
0
55
Hey, I have a couple of Puerto Rican cousins myself. We (Dominicans) and Puerto Ricans are pretty much alike. We have similar food, music, etc...Now if only some of them would change that superiority complex then it would be all good...
 
R

Ricardo900

Silver
Jul 12, 2004
3,269
37
48
When they arrive in PR, do they stay or continue their journey to the Continental US? If they do continue to the US, do they fly or ferry?
 
Bronxboy

Bronxboy

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2007
14,107
595
113
suarezn said:
Hey, I have a couple of Puerto Rican cousins myself. We (Dominicans) and Puerto Ricans are pretty much alike. We have similar food, music, etc...Now if only some of them would change that superiority complex then it would be all good...
Click to expand...

That is very true and that is why I said we are not all that bad. Definitely, the PRs from the island are way different than those from the states (NY especially).

But I am very glad to hear that there are a few who value what they have and are are willing to share.;)
 
K

Kyle

Silver
Jun 2, 2006
4,266
161
0
Ricardo900 said:
When they arrive in PR, do they stay or continue their journey to the Continental US? If they do continue to the US, do they fly or ferry?
Click to expand...

i can tell you that Mayaguez, on the west coast of PR, looks a lot like the DR than PR. it is also the 2nd/3rd largest city in PR behind Ponce (beautiful place). i may be wrong but once you make it to the PR, there are no more checkpoints to the U.S as in just buy a plane ticket to the mainland. of course you may need some false id if questions arise.
 
NALs

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,485
3,189
113
And the good news is....

that there has been a steady decrease in these illegal trips.

Such decrease is being attributed to the better economic situation in the DR and better migration control from the part of the authorities. In fact, 2007 so far has registered the lowest number of yola trips since the year 2000, according to the article.

Read the article:

EEUU: caen los viajes en yolas desde RD (US: trips in yolas from the DR have decreased)

-NALs
 
S

suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
5,823
290
0
55
Kyle: Before 9/11 it was true you didn't need documents, but even then people would get caught trying to make it from PR to The US. Nowadays everyone has to have some kind of documentation, so you'll see the population of Dominicans in Puerto Rico swell up from many of them just staying in the island. For instance my relatives who recently made the trip have just stayed put in PR...

Nals: I can tell you that from my hometown at least they have actually increased and 95% of the time they are making it. There are at least a couple every month...
 
B

Berzin

Banned
Nov 17, 2004
5,898
550
113
bronxboyatheart said:
I am glad my people are helping out. See, we are not that bad!!!;)
Click to expand...

Yes, the reason I started this thread is because the last story I read a few days ago the women who were found dead washed ashore in my home town of Manati. So it hit home a bit for me.
 
K

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
495
83
Kyle said:
i can tell you that Mayaguez, on the west coast of PR, looks a lot like the DR than PR. it is also the 2nd/3rd largest city in PR behind Ponce (beautiful place). i may be wrong but once you make it to the PR, there are no more checkpoints to the U.S as in just buy a plane ticket to the mainland. of course you may need some false id if questions arise.
Click to expand...

Kyle, I have flown into PR on a flight to the US. After clearing into the US and reboarding the plane, there were several uniformed and armed immigration police in the passage way pulling aside persons who and examining their documents. I asked one of the officers if we needed to be checked and he said "no", they were just inspecting the documents of persons they thought might not be legal. Passports seemed to be what they were looking at. I think this is a normal practice to be sure persons who enter PR illegally don't just get on a plane and go to the US.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom