The Dominican and Haitian governments are preparing to resume talks now that Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry appointed sociologist Daniel Supplice as liaison between both governments. Supplice was Haitian ambassador to the Dominican Republic during the Michel Martelly government, from February 2013 to July 2015. Supplice was recalled in 2015 after he took the side of the Dominican government in migratory plan related discussions.
When ambassador in the Dominican Republic he was recalled after making public statements on the failure of the Government of Haiti Identification Program and Documentation of Haitian Immigrants (PIDIH). Supplice had stated: “We are responsible for what is happening today with our fellow […] If we do not manage to identify our citizens at home, I do not see how we could have done elsewhere.”
The 70-year old sociologist and former ambassador of Haiti to the Dominican Republic has agreed to be the special envoy of Prime Minister Ariel Henry to Dominican President Luis Abinader, as reported in Le Nouvelliste, on Friday, 5 November 2021.
“Prime Minister Ariel Henry called me to be his special envoy to President Luis Abinader. I was very surprised. I accepted. I am at the disposal of the country,” Daniel Supplice, told Le Nouvelliste.
“We must avoid escalation and calm the situation because we are condemned to have the best relations on the island,” said Daniel Supplice, “very attached to the principles,” stressing that the Dominican President has agreed to receive him.
The formalities must be done as soon as possible for this mission to be held early next week, said Supplice.
“The Dominicans need to talk to people who do not lie,” said Daniel Supplice. Supplice was also former minister of Haitians living abroad during the President Michel Martelly administration.
Years after being removed from the position as ambassador to the Dominican Republic in 2015, Supplice continued to take the Dominican side. “We have no reason at all to blame the Dominican Republic for our problems, because our problems are of our own making,” says Supplice, who has studied immigration for more than 40 years. “The Dominican Republic can’t open its borders unconditionally to us,” Supplice is quoted in Global Press Journal.
“In no country on Earth is illegal immigration tolerated. Anyone crossing the border into a nation other than their own needs to have a passport and visa. And yet, Haitians have got into the habit of illegally immigrating in an attempt to land jobs,” Supplice said, as reported in a 2019 article in Le Nouvelliste.
In an interview with Le Nouvelliste in 2019, Supplice had stated: “It is still this system of corruption that I found in the embassy in the Dominican Republic.” Supplice was ambassador in the DR from February 2013 to July 2015. He raises his voice when he explains that the government led by Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe had set up an identification program (PIDIH) for the 300,000 undocumented Haitians living in neighboring countries. “People had to register and the Haitian state would deliver them a birth certificate, a national identity card and a passport. The money was collected, but only 3,000 people received it. It was a scam,” he says.
“I was called several times asking me to transfer the money to an individual and I refused. They realized I wasn’t playing this game. They are a bunch of thieves.”
“A few weeks later, President Michel Martelly recalled him from his post.”
The appointment to serve as liaison with the Abinader administration comes at a time when banks, hospitals and government in Haiti are operating at a minimum due to the escalating security issues. The director of the Jesuit Migrant Service in Haiti, Levelt Michaud, recently considered the security situation in the neighboring nation as critical. The Catholic priest said that the armed groups in Port-au-Prince have paralyzed activities and make many people think twice before crossing into Haiti.
Dominican President Luis Abinader proposed during his address during the United Nations General Assembly that Speaking during the 76th UN general debate, Abinader urged the international community to prioritize Haiti’s situation. “No unilateral action is sufficient to overcome the dramatic situation. It is imperative that the international community not abandon the Dominican Republic at a time when insecurity levels are leading that country to self-destruction,” said President Abinader. Abinader said that the extreme situation in Haiti is impacting the Dominican Republic and will soon affect the region.
The Dominican Republic has lead an initiative with the governments of Panama and Costa Rica by which the country proposes an action plan to disarm Haiti and create jobs.
Given the lack of international support to arrest the crisis in Haiti, the position of the Dominican government is to reinforce security and migration measures. During a council of ministers held on Saturday, 6 November 2021 in San Cristóbal, President Luis Abinader stated: “Dominicans can be sure that we are going to maintain security on our border.”
The Presidency has set aside Mondays to convene the country leadership to discuss the situation in Haiti. Haiti is the Dominican Republic’s priority. Haiti is the third largest trading partner (after the US and Switzerland), and more than a million Haitians reside in the Dominican Republic with hundreds of thousands making a regular commute for trade and work.
Read more:
El Dia
Le Nouvelliste
Haiti Libre
Le Nouvelliste
DR1 News
DR1 Forums
Hoy
DR1 News
DR1 News
El Caribe
Hoy
8 November 2021