President Luis Abinader defended this Monday, 22 November 2021, the policy assumed by the government for public hospitals to only attend to emergency cases of foreigners seeking free assistance.
“We are attending all emergency cases, but simply, the health system cannot attend to the demands of the Dominican Republic and those of another country. So, simply what we are doing is complying with the Migration Law,” he told the press when interviewed when present for an activity with the Specialized Corps of Presidential Security (Cusep).
He assured that the actions are done with due respect for human rights, and in case there is any excess, these are corrected.
“But simply, the Dominican Republic and the Dominican health service cannot attend to two countries,” reiterated the president.
After the Haitian crisis worsened, the Dominican state announced it was implementing stricter migratory measures, such as strengthening border patrols, establishing informants inside Haiti, revision of the National Regularization Plan, more operations in different points of the country, and only providing medical attention to illegal immigrants in cases of emergency.
In addition, Abinader has requested the help of leading nations, but there has been no reaction from the international community so far.
The Dominican government, nevertheless, has been criticized in the media for not taking more effective actions to combat people smuggling at the border not when these people reach the cities. As reported, major people smuggling mafias continue to be in place and are the explanation for thousands of undocumented Haitians arriving to demand free services at Dominican public hospitals.
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Diario Libre
23 November 2021