Last week there were headlines in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico all relating to home-built boats either floundering in the sea or being captured by migration authorities from the United States, Dominican Republic or Great Britain.
Over 200 Haitians were found in one boat near Turks & Caicos, and at least 11 bodies were recovered from a boat that capsized off the coast of Puerto Rico. There were two Dominicans rescued but the other victims were identified as Haitian. No matter how many perish each year, hundreds more are willing to sell everything for passage to Puerto Rico.
The US Coast Guard reported that the rescue operation on Thursday and Friday, 12-13 May, resulted in 31 persons rescued and the corpses of 11 others recovered. As reported around 60 were traveling on the capsized boat. Most were Haitian nationals. As reported, 11 women and 20 men were taken to Puerto Rico, where eight were treated at a local hospital, according to authorities. As of 6pm on Friday, there were 38 survivors, 36 Haitian and two Dominican Republic nationals, of which eight remain hospitalized. The number of deceased recovered remains at 11.
US Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said that the “mass rescue effort” began on Thursday and continued overnight into Friday. The US Coast Guard says the USCG and partner agencies responded to an unidentified amount of people in the water approximately 12 miles north of Desecheo island, on the western coast of Puerto Rico after their vessel capsized on Thursday during a suspected illegal migrant voyage. Reports are the boat collided with the island.
The media reports there is an uptick in the number of Haitians using the boat route. The US Customs and Border Protection reports that from October 2021 to March 2022, 571 Haitians and 252 people from the Dominican Republic were detained in waters around Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. As reported, in fiscal year 2021, 310 Haitians and 354 Dominicans were detained, compared to 22 Haitians and 313 Dominicans in fiscal year 2020, according to the agency.
The US Coast Guard reported that the incident occurred less than a week after the US Coast Guard and the Dominican navy had rescued 68 migrants in the Mona Passage, the treacherous area between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. One woman believed to be from Haiti died in that incident.
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16 May 2022