In his editorial column today, Thursday 21 August 2014, Diario Libre executive editor Adriano Miguel Tejada shares comments made by a “rich, educated resident of Boston” who happens to be a Haitian national and who sat next to him during a recent flight back to the DR. The Haitian blamed the Haitian-DR problem on Dominican businesspeople who encouraged Haitian immigration in order to have cheap labor for farming and construction and the government for tolerating this situation. He said order was needed and the Dominican government has to do so because once the doors to economic improvement have been opened, it is difficult to close them.
“Haiti has the problem that everyone there wants to leave, and after they leave, they abandon Haiti completely; they do not invest in the country because of the lack of order, peace and security. That is why it is so difficult to attract foreign investment, which is essential for development,” he commented.
The Haitian added: “The Dominican Republic cannot continue to spend so many resources on the health of the immigrants who often only come to be treated or to give birth at the hospitals without regulating the process in some way. It has to do so because the Haitian politicians are not going to do so. That is why policies have to be adopted independently of negotiations or agreements.”
Tejada says that when comparing the opinions of the Haitian businessman with those of some Dominicans, he gets the impression that there are many people here who cannot distinguish the problem clearly, especially that what is legal, fair and humane are not in contradiction.