Yesterday, Migration Director Carlos Amarante Baret warned sugar producers that if they want to hire foreign workers, especially Haitians, to work their fields, they must comply rigorously with the law, or face the consequences, as reported in Listin Diario. He stated that a commission assembled by his department, the Ministries of Labor, Public Health, and the Armed Forces are coordinating all that has to do with the hiring of Haitian sugar cane cutters for the next harvest. The commission will be meeting sugar producers next week to inform them of the government’s decision to ensure that things are done according to the law.
El Caribe reports that Amarante made these comments during the launch of a training workshop about Migration Law which was organized by the Migration Department’s Haitian Affairs section. Sugar producers must request the requisite visas for their foreign personnel at the DR’s consulate in Haiti. He pointed out that throughout history, the country’s ruling classes have profited from Dominican-Haitian relations which have been lacking a national migratory policy.