Public transporters covering the routes between Dajabon, Montecristi, Mao and Santiago are complaining of serious problems with a large number of Haitians who get into their vehicles with false identity cards (cedulas), visas and Dominican residencies, as reported in Listin Diario.
The North West Transport Union says that the problem is that many of their members have their vehicles impounded, and sometimes the drivers themselves are arrested when Immigration inspectors and the army detain the Haitians with false papers. The papers often appear to be genuine but once they are checked through the system they are found to be forgeries.
Due to the high numbers involved, transport unions are asking the Dominican authorities to investigate how Haitians are obtaining these papers given the large number in circulation. CNTU leader Juan Marte said that public transport drivers are not immigration authorities and although they ask Haitian passengers to show their documents before getting into their vehicle, they have no way of checking if they are false or not.
For this reason, he said it is unfair to arrest the drivers or to impound their vehicles.
According to Marte, the job of a transport worker was to take people from one place to another, whether Dominican, Haitian or whatever nationality, because there is neither privilege nor discrimination in the sector.