ACAPS Anticipatory note: Haiti – Returns from the Dominican Republic (03 November 2023) – Haiti

CRISIS IMPACT OVERVIEW

On 15 September 2023, the Dominican Republic closed its land, air, and sea borders with Haiti and suspended the issuance of visas to Haitians in response to the construction of a canal in Haiti. The canal draws from the shared Massacre River and is intended to provide drought relief for Haiti’s Maribaroux Plain. The Dominican Republic claims that the canal will affect the environment and Dominican farmers, violating a 1929 treaty governing Massacre River use (AP 15/09/2023 and 11/09/2023; CEPR 06/10/2023).

Following the border closures on 15 September, the UN urged a humanitarian exemption to allow Haitians to buy food and medical supplies from the Dominican Republic (OHCHR 18/09/2023; Miami Herald 16/09/2023). On 11 October, the Dominican Republic partially reopened the border, permitting Dominican vendors in border towns to sell basic goods, including food and medicine.

It maintained a ban on the export of electronics and materials that could be used for canal construction, and on the entry of most Haitians for work, education, and medical purposes (AP 12/10/2023). Haiti declined to open one of the major border crossings on the Haitian side, at Ouanaminthe, demanding that the Dominican Republic fully open the border from its side first (Miami Herald 24/10/2023; ABC 12/10/2023; AP 12/10/2023; IOM accessed 31/01/2023). On 30 October, the Dominican Republic announced the resumption of a limited number of flights between the countries (Miami Herald 31/10/2023).

As at 24 October, more than 100,000 Haitians had returned to Haiti from the Dominican Republic in response to the border dispute (Miami Herald 24/10/2023). Returnees are citing harassment from Dominican security forces as the motivation for their return. The deportation of Haitians, which was already regular prior to the border dispute, has also intensified in recent weeks. There are reports of Dominican security forces committing violence and theft when raiding the homes of Haitian migrants (Al Jazeera 22/09/2023; GARR X 11/10/2023).

Humanitarian responders are concerned about the risk of violence against migrants, the loss of documents, education disruptions, and trafficking.

The border closures have also caused significant disruptions to livelihoods in Haitian and Dominican communities that sell and buy goods in binational markets (AP 15/09/2023; UNICEF 25/10/2023). There are also reports of protests at the Ouanaminthe border crossing in Haiti on 7–8 October and 21 October, to which Haitian police responded with tear gas and gunfire (Haiti Libre 09/10/2023; Gamax Live 09/10/2023; Crisis24 21/10/2022). If the border dispute and closures continue, there is a risk of further violence, displacement, and livelihood disruption, increasing needs in Haiti, which is already experiencing a complex humanitarian emergency.