Haitian and Dominican foreign ministers, Fritz Longchamps and Eduardo Latorre met in Havana during the 9th Iberoamerican Summit on 15 November and agreed that the directors of migration of both countries would meet in the frontier town of Jimaní at noon on Friday, 20 November. The meeting was to discuss how to better coordinate the repatriations of illegal Haitians and Haitian migration to the DR. Dominican director of Migration, Danilo Díaz traveled to the frontier town of Jimaní (a four-hour drive from Santo Domingo) for the meeting. He cancelled a scheduled trip to Canada to be present at the talks with his Haitian colleague. He waited four hours but the Haitian Migration Department director, Jeanne Bernard Pierre nor her representatives showed up. The meeting had been confirmed the day before. When the Dominican government requested an explanation, charge d’affairs of Haiti in the DR, Guy Lamothe informed the Ministry of Foreign Relations that the Haitian migration authorities did not attend the meeting because the meeting had not been channeled through the formal diplomatic channels. Lamothe said that the Dominican government has to follow diplomatic formalities, as per bilateral agreements. He said the verbal telephone confirmation between the migration directors of both countries was not enough. Guy Lamothe said that the Haitian government was interested in the talks and was formally inviting Minister Eduardo Latorre to meet with Haitian Minister of Foreign Relations Fritz Longchamps on Monday in Santo Domingo. Longchamp would be in Santo Domingo to attend meetings prior to the II ACP Summit. In a press communiqué responding to the Haitian explanation, the Dominican government rejected the Haitian government’s reasoning indicating that "the meeting had been agreed upon at the highest level of diplomacy of both countries." And both departments of Migration had confirmed it on Wednesday and Thursday. The Haitian no-show was unjustified, said the Dominican government, especially since the meeting of the migration heads had been convened at the request of Minister of Foreign Relations of Haiti Fritz Longchamps himself when meeting with Minister of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic Eduardo Latorre in Havana. The Dominican authorities say they are in the best disposition to meet with the government of Haiti to discuss the massive crossing of illegal of Haitian citizens and the deporting of undocumented Haitians. But the Dominican authorities now are conditioning the holding of the meeting that Haiti offer a more satisfactory explanation to the absence of its delegation to the meeting that Minister of Foreign Relations of Haiti Fritz Longchamps had requested when meeting with his colleague, Minister of Foreign Relations Eduardo Latorre. The Ministry of Foreign Relations of the DR says that several inter-government meetings have been held in the past following verbal and not formal requests. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. More than 95% of its population lives below the poverty line. Given the political crisis in Haiti, international organizations have suspended aid and development programs. Migration to the DR seems to be the only escape valve to the political, social and economic crisis that the Haitian government has been unable to tackle.
