The foreign ministers of Haiti and the Dominican Republic agreed to halt the mass deportations that were occurring in the Cibao Valley and elsewhere and the re-opening of the Haitian Frontier at Juana Mendez-Dajabon.
Carlos Morales Troncoso of the DR and Herald Abrahams of Haiti held a press conference at which they told Listin Diario reporters that relations between the neighbors were “harmonious” and that any problems arising would be solved through conversations.
In his statements, Abrahams told the reporters at the Hotel Santo Domingo that while relations between the two countries were in good shape, he did require that the Dominican authorities guarantee the physical integrity of Haitians living here as Haiti does to those Dominican immigrants living in Haiti.
Morales Troncoso, in a statement released shortly before this surprise meeting with the Haitian minister, said that because “only Dominican authorites watch over the frontier, the situation is very difficult to manage, “and, as a result, human errors, not desired by the Dominican government, do occur.” His note also pointed out that the 391 kilometers of the frontier are only guarded by Dominican authorities.
At the same time, father Regino Martinez called the deportations abusive and “Frontier Solidarity” (Solidaridad Fronteriza) said that 2,300 Haitians, with or without legal papers, had been sent back across the border, along with nearly 200 dark skinned Dominicans with their “cedulas” (national ID cards), victims of the “incredible racism” of immigration officials.
Earlier, Armed Forces Minister Sigfrido Pared Perez had already ordered a stop to the deportations arguing that the troops were exhausted from the effort. The deportations began to safeguard Haitians when community members became enraged after Haitians were accused of the murder of a Dominican woman and serious injury of her husband, in an attempted robbery in Hatillo Palma, Monte Cristi.