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DAJABÓN, Dominican Republic (AP) — Human rights activists are calling on the Dominican Republic government to temporarily suspend deportations as the crisis intensifies in neighboring Haiti and others try to flee across the closed border following a surge in deadly gang violence.
Small trucks equipped with custom-made cages transport dozens of Haitians each day from a detention center in San Cristobal to the border on the island of Hispaniola as gang attacks paralyze parts of the Haitian capital.
“If the government could just delay or reduce evictions, it would be a success. . . a contribution to the Haitian people,” said William Charpentier, coordinator of the National Coalition for Migration and Refugees, founded in the Dominican Republic.
Charpentier said his organization has won court cases about the Dominican government allegedly breaking into homes to arrest suspected Haitians, vandalizing their property and extorting them.
The United Nations has also called on the Dominican Republic and countries to halt deportations, highlighting that Haiti is incredibly dangerous.
Roberto Alvarez, the Dominican Republic’s foreign minister, told reporters that the deportations are the result of a national security policy and that there is still no option to continue them.
“We do it in accordance with foreign conventions and human rights treaties. We’re not perfect. From time to time, conditions arise. We seek to correct them immediately,” he said when asked about the abuse allegations.
According to the Dominican government, more than 23,900 people have been deported this year. More than 4,500 people have been evicted this month.
Dozens of people have been killed since the attacks began on Feb. 29 in Port-au-Prince, with gangs attacking police stations, the main foreign airport that remains closed and Haiti’s two largest prisons, with more than 4,000 detainees released.
According to the UN, the attacks have left some 17,000 people homeless and fled their neighbourhoods.
“There are a lot of calamities to eat, a lot of fighting. There’s no life,” said Suson Chalas, a 32-year-old street vendor who lives in the Haitian border town of Juana Mendez.
Alexis Yard, a 45-year-old Haitian who was recently at a bilateral market along the border, said he supported the presence of a foreign military force to help combat gang violence in his country.
“What we need is change, to live well, to put an end to crime and to be able to move freely around the country,” he said.
Plans to deploy a U. N. -backed Kenyan police force to combat gangs in Haiti have been suspended, and the East African country said the force would be deployed once a transitional presidential council is in a position to rule Haiti.
The council, which has not yet been established, would be guilty of agreeing on an interim prime minister and a council of ministers. Last week, Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced he would resign once the council was established.
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Follow Haiti’s AP’s on https://apnews. com/hub/haiti
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