To the editor:

As many people have reached out to me, my daughter and son-in-law asking about my safety living near the border of Haiti, I felt the need to let those concerned know our circumstances.

We live in Historic Isabella on the Atlantic North coast of the Dominican Republic. It is a two and a half hour drive to Dajabon, the nearest border crossing into Haiti. We have helped when we can as Haiti has suffered numerous natural disasters, lack of basic services and great political unrest.

Haitians provide much of the cheap labor for the Dominican Republic, which has seemingly helped the Dominican Republic prosper. Today, Haiti is in the midst of gang or revolutionary warfare. Port-au-Prince, the countries’ capital, is an eight and a half hour drive south from our quiet idyllic life in the tropics.

It seems far away from this small fishing village where Columbus first landed and built the first city in the Americas established by Europeans. Helicopters have been going overhead in the last several days, ferrying those who can afford the reported $10,000 USD per seat to escape from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic airports.

The natural border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti is 243 miles long. The Dominican Republic, using Haitian labor, is building a 100 mile wall which, as of yet, is not finished. Our Haitian friends blame President Abinader for failing to protect those here or to help Haiti itself.

The Dominican National Police picks up Haitian men and the Immigration police picks up men, women and children/families. When deportation trucks come into town to enforce the “law,” the people here have been forewarned. Everyone has a cell phone and word spreads rapidly ahead of the deportation convoys. The deportation effort by the government has been effective in the large cities. Small towns, such as ours, are widely separated and as word spreads, they have time to run and hide. The workers say there is an alternative to deportation. A bribe to the National Police, 12,000 RD, or about $200 USD will get them out of the truck. $200 is a months pay.

Our Haitian friend, Antonio, who has a Dominican Republic passport, told us that the gangs will not come to our village as they are making too much money stealing from their own people, running the drug trade and being paid by the gang leaders.

Are we frightened? Concerned, to be sure. We listen to the news reports daily, talk to our Haitian friends and Expats living here. Heads in the Sand? Possibly. As Haitian prisons are emptied and hunger and fear is spreading throughout the country, desperate people do desperate things. Things are definitely desperate in Haiti.

For the past 20 years we have sat in our peaceful corner of the Dominican Republic and we contemplate leaving. For the moment, however, we are not going to do so. See you all in June.

J. Sue Dyer and Charles Pagano

Historic Isabella Dominican Republic and Saranac Lake