In a posture statement before the 113th Congress House Armed Services Committee dated 26 February, the US Southern Command General John F. Kelly recognized the efforts of the Dominican Republic regarding Haitian immigration.
The US Southern Command told a hearing of the US Congress that the Dominican Armada and security forces were using valuable resources to deal with increasing numbers of Haitians who use Dominican territory to make boat trips to Puerto Rico. The Haitians are motivated by looser immigration procedures authorized for Haitian nationals since the 2010 earthquake. They are mainly fleeing the lack of human rights and work opportunities in Haiti.
Despite the situation, the US Congress chose to extend the temporary migratory benefit (TPS) to January 2016 to Haitian nationals. The privilege is in place since 15 January 2010. Haitians who reach US territory are authorized to work legally in the United States. Thousands are now using the DR waters and territory as a first step to reach US territory.
According to the posture statement presented to the US Congress by the US Southern Command: “It has been many years since US Southern Command supported a response to a mass migration event, but I am concerned by the trends we are seeing, especially in Haiti, where we have witnessed a 44-fold increase in Haitian migrants in the Mona Passage. As of February 2013, more than 2,000 Haitians had been documented trying to use this narrow passage as a migration vector, compared to less than 200 in the past eight years combined.”
While Haitian immigration has increased dramatically, during the same period Dominicans have been discouraged by recent tragedies and are less likely to use the sea route.
“Smuggling operations have a high human toll; rough seas endanger the lives of rescuers and migrants and have resulted in the death of more than 50 Haitians to date,” stated the US official in the document.
Kelly also acknowledged the plight of the Dominican Republic dealing with the mass immigration of impoverished Haitians. “Thankfully, the Dominican Republic is an important partner in stemming migration flows, and they are working hard to reach a solution on the issue of the roughly 200,000 Haitians residing in the Dominican Republic,” he stated in the comments.
General Kelly said that the US Coast Guard and Dominican forces are already “overstretched” in the patrolling operations. “Absent resource adjustments, stemming these smuggling operations and preventing future loss-of-life will pose major challenges to the United States and our Caribbean partners,” states the US military commander of the Caribbean Sea.
www.southcom.mil/newsroom/Documents/2014_SOUTHCOM_Posture_Statement_HASC_FINAL_PDF.pdf