Minister of Foreign Relations Andres Navarro says that there will not be mass deportations of people who do not have legal status in the DR after the National Foreigner Legalization Plan expires on 15 June 2015. Outlining the guidelines behind the New Dominican Republic Foreign Policy at a breakfast meeting of the Dominican Republic Association of Industries (AIRD) yesterday, Thursday 16 April 2015, Navarro said that this had never been done in the Dominican Republic.
He acknowledged that Ministry of Labor data shows that Haitian labor in the Dominican Republic as of 2014 was 3.4% of the working population with a large presence in farming and construction.
Nevertheless, Navarro said that there is a “need to control our territory” but that any deportations would be carried out while respecting people’s human rights. He said the Haitian government has asked for the deportations to be coordinated between both countries, which he said the Dominican Republic has accepted. He said deportations are part of the agenda of the Mixed Bilateral Commission with Haiti so that the Haitian government can prepare to receive its citizens. He said the Dominican government has done “everything possible” for the Legalization Plan to be a success, but the Haitian government must document its citizens so they can benefit from legal resident status here. He said the Haitian government had committed to opening offices in Santiago, Barahona and Higuey.
Recently, the Migration Agency director, Jose Ricardo Taveras said that his department does not have the funds for carrying out deportations.