Dominican ambassador in London, Federico Cuello visited The Guardian to explain the complexities of Haitian immigration to the Dominican Republic and the urgency that the media contribute to communicate truths that can help Haiti to overcome its condition as a failed state. During the briefings with The Guardian journalists, Cuello explained the achievements and scope of the National Foreigner Legalization Plan (PNRE) that has offered free and fast-tracked legalization to illegal foreigners and Special Law 169-14 that granted Dominican citizenships in cases when this was irregularly issued and to those who had been born in the country. Cuello also discarded claims by the Haitian government that the PNRE had generated a humanitarian crisis. He spoke of the self-restraint demonstrated by the DR on the issue of repatriations.
Ambassador Cuello was interviewed by Jamie Wilson, chief of International News, Lucy Lamble, editor for Global Development and Sam Jones, reporter for Global Development at The Guardian. Also present were Chris Bennett, executive director of the Caribbean Council and Gustavo Sosa, Minister Counselor of the Dominican Embassy in London.
Cuello criticized that for months The Guardian in its reports on Haitian-Dominican migration issues has been referring to the 1937 massacre of Haitians as a defining issue in Dominican-Haitian relations. Cuello explained that in so doing, The Guardian has been overlooking the real responsibility that present day Haitian policies have had in generating the ongoing internal crisis in Haiti that has caused so many Haitians to emigrate.
Ambassador Cuello Camilo reminded The Guardian that the failures of the Haitian Program for Identifying Haitian Migrants Abroad (PIDIH) were denounced bravely by Ambassador Daniel Supplice, former Haitian envoy to Santo Domingo, first through an interview with the press and later through a letter to President Michel Martelly after his sudden dismissal from his posting. Copies of the letter, in its original French version and in the English-language translation published by the Haitian Times, were delivered to The Guardian during the meeting.
As for the alleged humanitarian crisis in Haiti, Ambassador Cuello Camilo reminded The Guardian that both the US and the Canadian ambassadors in the DR and in Haiti visited separately the Dominican-Haitian border, verifying that there is no crisis to be found.
He reiterated that both countries have the reciprocal right to repatriate irregular migrants from their respective territories, by virtue of the Treaty of Washington of 1938 and its Modus Operandi of 1939. Notwithstanding, “President Medina adopted a policy of self-restraint on the issue of repatriations until having in place the appropriate policy measures that are resolving the situation, at least on the Dominican side of the border”, said Ambassador Cuello.
Ambassador Cuello urged The Guardian to pay attention to the consequences of state failure for Haitians themselves. He highlighted that Haiti, as a failed state, does not document its citizens, does not provide education or health services, does not create conditions for job creation, does not provide water and sanitation and has not prevented the deforestation of 98% of its national territory.
He alerted The Guardian about the consequences for the Dominican Republic of this situation: deforestation due to illegal logging to produce charcoal for export to Haiti, excess demand of health services consuming 14% of government expenditures in health coverage of Haitian needs in the DR and education, above and beyond the DR?s capacity to service the Haitian demands for these free services.
Cuello encouraged The Guardian to pay attention to the real Haitian problems of the condition of Haiti as a failed state rather than the symptoms of the situation of Haitian migrants in the DR. In so doing, he said The Guardian would be able to understand that the DR is the victim rather than the culprit in this case and that, by focusing on the DR rather than Haiti, The Guardian has allowed Haitian politicians to avoid their responsibility for the crisis, while at the same time continuing to exclude their diaspora from the political process and thus preventing the renewal of the political class and the civil service.