On Sunday, 3 December 2023, Haitian police forces crossed the border into Dajabon province in the Dominican Republic to chastise merchants who were selling merchandise to Haitians at this side of the border. The Haitian authorities have closed the border gates on their sides, arguing that these will remain closed until the Dominican government reinstates the lax migratory requirements in place before September 2023.
As reported, Dominican merchants selling to Haiti were also attacked by the Haitian police. Up in the air is the question whether the entry of Haitian police to Dominican territory was a provocation, or more of the chaotic violence that has turned Haiti into a failed state?
During the weekly Monday press conference, President Luis Abinader called the entry of Haitian police into the country: “a provocation.” He said the Ministry of Foreign Relations is preparing a “diplomatic note of complaint.”
Abinader said the government would get adamant after the situation that occurred in La Vigía, in the border area of Dajabón, where Haitian police officers penetrated on Sunday, 3 December 2023 and attacked Dominican and Haitian merchants, destroying the merchandise. After the event, the Dominican Army militarized the province, increasing the patrols.
“We are going to be very tough, as we have been in any situation like that and the protocol was once (applied) by the Army and at once they (the soldiers) retreated and we are also making the diplomatic note as it should be,” he said when answering a question from a journalist during the LA Semanal meeting with the Press, which was held in the province of San Pedro de Macorís.
He said that the Dominican Republic Army has enough members to protect the border area, in addition to armored equipment.
Abinader called the actions of the Haitian police in Dominican territory “a provocation.”
The Haitian authorities crossed over to control their people because they can. For the most part, the Dominican military just looked on. A similar situation had not been reported before.
As reported, the Ministry of Foreign Relations will be sending a diplomatic protest note.
On the other hand, the mayor of Dajabón Santiago Riveron has ordered Haitian vendors who were selling their wares on a city street to leave the area. The Dominican Army militarized the gateway city.
Riverón, explained that the decision to remove the Haitian vendors came at the request of Dominican merchants, who understand that “it is not fair that, while the border on the Haitian side is closed by order of its authorities, that these may come here to do business,” as reported in Diario Libre.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Noticias SIN
Noticias SIN
N Digital
5 December 2023