Dominican President: Haiti deportations wonβt stop
Luis Abinader refuses to βauthorise any refugee campsβ as crisis unfolds in neighbouring Haiti
The President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader has told HARDtalk that he will not stop deporting Haitians, despite the dire conditions across the border on the island of Hispaniola.
Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is among those who have asked the Dominican government to halt deportations of Haitians. Rejecting this, President Abinader responded that βthe UN is the one who has to act moreβ.
President Abinader, who is running for re-election in May, said he had been warning the UN for βmore than three yearsβ that Haiti was descending into βchaosβ. He insisted that βthey cannot ask the Dominican Republic to solve the Haitian problem. We will not do it and we cannot do itβ.
Speaking to Stephen Sackur, President Abinader also refused to βauthorise any refugee camps at this momentβ on Dominican soil. He cited βsecurity and also historical reasonsβ, suggesting that Haitian islands could be utilised for this purpose. The UN has estimated that over 350,000 Haitians have been internally displaced.