The number of births to foreigners in the Dominican Republic is on the rise. The significantly better quality medical services and little cost is a big lure for Haitian women to pay traffickers to cross the border. While services are free at Dominican public hospitals, in Haiti these are costly even for the poor.
A report in Diario Libre says that RD$500 (US$10, or what a tourist card costs) paid at the border is enough to get across. The pregnant women then can board a commuter bus or a motorcycle taxi to one of the cities to visit a public hospital. Another US$100 is usually enough to ensure the woman is not stopped at the military checkpoints. Other trips are organized for up to US$200. Diario Libre says the contacts for the trip are known in the Haitian barrios in the cities, and at the public hospitals, also.
Last October 2017, Defense Minister Lieutenant General Ruben Paulino Sem had reported on the dismantling of a network of civilians and military involved in birthing tourism after then director of the National Health Serivce, Nelson Rodriguez Monegro, had bitterly complained of the high cost of the inflow of the Haitian women to the public health system. Defense Minister Paulino Sem confirmed there are networks in operation all along the border. These contract the buses. There are military and civilians involved.
But Diario Libre could not find a case on illegal smuggling being heard in any court. One source told the newspaper that the announcement by Paulino Sem was fake news.
The Ministry of Public Health says that it has 205,000 births to Haitian mothers registered since 2007.
The Diario Libre report by journalists Tania Molina and Mariela Mejía also reveals that the Haitian mothers many times will share identity cards. In an earlier report, the newspaper reporters confirmed that border migration checks are lax. Profiting and brotherly benevolence are reasons mentioned for the lax controls.
Statistics from 2010-2017 show there are 1,071,631 births at Dominican public hospitals. The number of foreign births are on the rise. While in 2016, these 2343 18,874 compared to 112,511 of Dominicans, in 2017 these had increased to 23,292 foreigners compared to 119,692 of Dominicans.
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Diario Libre
20 September 2018
