President Luis Abinader has signed Decree 215-25, creating the Observatory of Migration Policies, the Presidential Office announced. The new entity is in addition to the existing and the Migration Agency (DGM), the National Migration Institute (INM). The new entity will fall under the National Migration Council.
This new body will serve as a platform for citizen engagement, aiming to enhance organized oversight, transparency, and civil society participation in the formulation, monitoring, and evaluation of the Dominican Republic’s migration policies.
The presidential act establishes that the Observatory will operate under the purview of the National Migration Council. An executive commission will lead its operations, headed by Miguel Franjul, appointed by the Executive Branch as president of the organism, and coordinated with the Ministry of Interior and Police.
The executive commission will also include Julio Sánchez Maríñez, rector of INTEC; Monsignor Héctor Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez, Archbishop of Santiago; Pastor Feliciano Lacen Custodio, executive director of CODUE; Jacinto Pichardo, general secretary of the Instituto Duartiano; Juan Mera, president of the Association for the Development of Santiago; César Dargam Espaillat, executive vice president of CONEP; and Juan Bancalari, president of ASONAHORES. All members will serve in an honorary capacity.
The decree further empowers the Observatory to incorporate additional civil society representatives and establish permanent working groups comprising experts and specialists in the field.
A search online reveals there already exists the Obmica, which seems to be the migration observatory dating back to 2011.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
National Migration Institute
Migration Agency
Obmica
21 April 2025