The Dominican Republic has plans to swiftly complete a 250-mile border wall along its shared boundary with Haiti on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, an attempt to protect the country as its land neighbor falls into further chaos.
Dominican President Luis Abinader is surging soldiers and construction resources to seal off the border as conditions on the west side of the island have slid into a state of anarchy in recent weeks as gangs and warlords have further clenched control of Haiti.
“We are ensuring that this destabilizing situation stops right at the border,” Abinader said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
The border wall project commenced three years ago and is based on Israel’s wall. Abinader is running for reelection in May, and if he is successful, he will move quickly on carrying out a $120 million plan to install a barrier along the border.
Stage one of the plan is standing up a 12-foot wall made of concrete, topped with a metal fence and razor wire. That barrier would stretch along 30 miles of the most populated area along the border’s Massacre River.
The Dominican government has already erected sentry towers that include solar-powered cameras, and it has deployed drones to monitor where Haitians might cross out of sight.
Abinader said border security is of significant concern following the escape of more than 4,000 prisoners in Haiti as gangs attacked police stations to spring the prison breaks in the last several weeks.
Meanwhile, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been barred from reentering his home country since going to Kenya to negotiate outside support to help the government regain control. Gangs have overtaken the airport in the capital city, Port-au-Prince.
The Dominican Republic has refused U.S. requests to allow Henry into the nation, and he remains in Puerto Rico for the time being.
The prison breaks have raised new concerns for Abinader about who is crossing the border. Only 15% of Haitians have an ID card or passport, making it difficult to know if Haitian immigrants who are apprehended crossing illegally were sprung from prison and on the run or seeking refuge.
Haiti has been in peril for more than a decade, having never recovered from the 2010 earthquake that claimed nearly 300,000 lives.
In 2021, Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated. Martine Moise, his widow, and Claude Joseph, a former prime minister, were accused last month of being involved in the assassination plot.
The United Nations has estimated that 33,000 Haitians have fled Port-au-Prince in two weeks this month.
Countless Haitians have fled the island altogether and traveled to other countries in South America, Central America, Mexico, and the United States. Since President Joe Biden took office, more than 200,000 Haitians have been encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border attempting to enter the United States, according to federal data.
Henry has agreed to resign and pleaded with Haitians to “remain calm” in a recent video announcement, but with food shortages and violence continuing to escalate, the situation is prompting many to flee.
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The Dominican Republic has continued to deport immigrants caught illegally entering or residing in the country despite being asked by the United Nations to discontinue the removals. Roughly 225,000 Haitians were returned from the Dominican last year.
In a sign of how bad things have gotten, Abinader’s opponent in the May election, former President Leonel Fernandez, has openly supported the border wall project and said it was critical.
