Increasing numbers of expatriate Dominicans are returning home to their country from Spain, fleeing the economic crisis there, as well as from other countries including the United States.
According to an Immigration department source at Las Americas International Airport, more than 3,000 Dominicans have voluntarily returned since the start of the economic crisis affecting Spain. Many had been living there illegally.
According to the statistics, they include up to three or four members of the same family who used to have small businesses in Spain, including beauty salons, barbershops, cafeterias and car washes.
Some had reportedly taken out mortgages to buy houses and had to hand them over to the banks when they could not pay, whilst others were forcibly evicted by the financial institutions.
The same source says that many were able to return to the country thanks to money sent by their families at home.
Dominicans are also returning voluntarily from Switzerland, St. Martin, Guadalupe, Venezuela, Panama, Curacao, Aruba, Puerto Rico, New York and Miami.
Many are sent home due to their illegal status while others have bought their airline tickets after deciding to return, as a result of the problems they experience abroad, especially in Spain, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela and Curacao.
As well as those who have come voluntarily, some have been detained and deported by the local immigration agencies, many of whom were arrested wandering the streets.
Once they get to the airport, returning Dominicans who have come back voluntarily are investigated and allowed to go, while anyone with a criminal record is taken to the Migration Office for further checking.
According to the Immigration authorities at Las Americas airport, during 2012 more than 2,000 Dominicans living in Spain, the US and other countries, returned voluntarily to the Dominican Republic.
www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2013/3/6/268406/Sigue-regreso-voluntario-de-criollos-residentes-en-Espana-y-otras-naciones