[Talk-ht] border Haiti / Dominican Republic

Mer 29 Juil 06:33:07 UTC 2015

Hi activation team and Haiti (beware cross-posting),

Suzan sent me some news report of refugee crisis along the border
Haiti / Dominican Republic.
Is anyone aware, do you have contacts or report from the ground or NGOs?

All the best,

Ben - althio

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Suzan Reed <suzan at suzanreed.com>

I copied the transcript from the news story below. You can listen to
it here: http://www.npr.org/2015/07/28/427019702/immigration-changes-create-refugee-crisis-along-dominican-republic-haiti-border

> Do you think there will be an activation along the boarder between Haiti and the Dominican Republic? Just curious as I hear of people are fleeing the DR and setting up just over the boarder. If there is one I’d like to help map.
>
> Suzan

Refugee camps are appearing along Haiti's border with the Dominican
Republic as people flee the DR to comply with new immigration laws.
It's unclear how the Haitian government will manage the crisis.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We're tracking what could be the early stages of a major refugee
crisis. It's happening in one of the world's poorest countries, Haiti.
Some 40,000 Haitians have returned to their homeland from the
neighboring Dominican Republic. This comes after a crackdown on
Haitian migrants there. The Dominican Republic has passed strict laws
to encourage the migrants to leave, including stripping citizenship
from children born to undocumented Haitian parents. The result is a
growing number of refugee-style camps, springing up on the Haitian
side of the border as people flee. As Peter Granitz reports, there's
some real concern about the Haitian government's ability to manage
this.

PETER GRANITZ, BYLINE: It's hard to find anyone who actually knows how
many people have crossed the border into Haiti. Presler Jean is trying
to find out. He launches a small Styrofoam drone into the sky and sits
down and rests his laptop on his knees. As the drone makes its rounds
over the pop-up village of Savanne Galata, it snaps photos that show
up on his computer.

PRESLER JEAN: It give you all the information. For example, for each
pictures, we have the GPS coordinates.

GRANITZ: Jean and his colleagues at the International Organization for
Migration will use the aerial photos to determine how the camps are
growing. Savanne Galata is just one settlement on the Haitian side of
the 230-mile border. It's a collection of homes, most of which are
under construction sitting on a hillside. Men hammer corrugated tin,
flattening it to make walls for new houses. Sixty-nine families have
settled here. It's growing, too. Many men came early to build new
homes and are waiting for their families to join. Registering these
people falls to local and international aid groups.

LAZAR DAVID: (Foreign language spoken).

GRANITZ: Today, Lazar David, the owner of the land, explains to
surveyors from IOM and GARR, a local NGO, just who showed up from
where and when. Galata is remote and relatively small. But as you head
south toward the coast, you come across much larger camps. This one is
called Parc Cadeau. And Morlene Charles, her four children and husband
have called it home for about a month. They share two tents. There are
more than 500 tents here made of sticks, cardboard and plastic. When
asked what kind of assistance she's getting, Charles says members of
the local parish handed out some toiletries and a bit of food. She
shows us four vacuum-sealed packages of seasoned rice.

MORLENE CHARLES: (Through interpreter) I asked them, how am I supposed
to cook this without oil? Then they told me I need to turn around and
leave.

GRANITZ: Frantz Pierre-Louis works with Haiti's Department of Civil
Protection in this part of the country. He says his agency is closely
monitoring the food it hands out.

FRANTZ PIERRE-LOUIS: We don't give them too much because if you give
them, let's say, an overload of food, then that might put them in a
position to sell the food.

GRANITZ: But there's little evidence of any food handouts in Parc
Cadeau or any government officials. Camp resident Pierre Paul Eduoanna
says he's seen just two government visits here, one from the first
lady, the other with the prime minister.

PIERRE PAUL EDUOANNA: (Through interpreter) The prime minister came
and made a lot of promises. Once they gave out rice and spaghetti, and
the next time, they gave us hygiene kits.

GRANITZ: The Dominican Republic says it may begin official
deportations in August. Tens of thousands could be forced to leave the
DR due to a lack of citizenship. Frantz Pierre-Louis of Haiti's Civil
Protection Unit says it cannot help everyone. He's concerned people
from nearby villages are showing up in camps to take advantage of
handouts. And he stresses the Haitian government will not help any
person it determines is Dominican.

PIERRE-LOUIS: There are some Dominicans with Haitian origin. So what
are we going to do with them? That's not in my mission.

GRANITZ: Just how many people that is, is unclear. And proving just
who they are could be impossible. For NPR News, I'm Peter Granitz near
Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti.

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