Santo Domingo. - The east region hoteliers are concerned with the “vertiginous and uncontrolled growth” of the undocumented Haitian population in that zone, mostly in Altagracia province, where slums have sprung up in which those immigrants account for 60 percent of their population.
They say the situation is so alarming that they’ve asked the Immigration authorities to intervene in more than one occasion, though the response has been very timid, with an increase in their numbers as time passes.
They affirm that in the Bavaro-Punta Cana area there are at least 15 slums, known as “Haiti Chiquito“and “Kosovo,” inhabited mostly by Haitians, whereas another barrio, “Hoyo de Friusa,” has become a “headache” for the community because it has become a major points for the sale of drugs.
In the also slums Barrio Nuevo, La Candela, Villa Palmera, Los Sumideros, Las Zanjas, Villa El Cerro y San Francisco, the Haitians are so many that a general had to be assigned there with a military contingent for a permanent vigilance in the region.
The situation has led East Region Hotel Owners Association president Ernesto Veloz to demand that the Government solve the problem, who said the increase in the Haitian population and the number of slums brings sprawl to the region.
Interviewed by eldia.com.do, Veloz said that the hoteliers have even proposed the construction of houses for the foreigners in certain sectors of the region, but the initiative had no success because in his view the authorities aren’t interested in confronting the situation, which said hasn’t had an impact in tourist arrivals in the region.
Buses halted and returned
Last month the avalanche of Haitians was such the intelligence agencies learned of “buses full of illegals” were headed to Higüey ostensibly to take part in the La Altagracia Day pilgrimage on January 21, and mounted an operation as part of the sanitary effort to dissuade and prevent cholera.
Immigration agents halted several buses are the Las Americas highway toll plaza, which prevented an increase in the number of undocumented Haitians in the zone. Immigration director Sigfrido Pared affirmed then that they learned that most of them weren’t planning to return to Haiti.
Written by: AnthonyT, 15 Feb 2011 8:32 AM
From: United States, Lawrence, mass
The hoteliers created this problem for themselves by hiring illegal haitians to build the hotels for them. They wanted the extra cheap labor but did not take into acccount the in the end all this influx of haitians will just hurt them in the end. They will never learn.
Written by: Atabey, 15 Feb 2011 8:43 AM
From: United States, NYC
I have a friend, not Dominican, who visited the area some 2/3 years ago and her verdict was: "What in God's name are your people allowing to happen there?" She was taken aback by the conditions and the proximity of these slums to the beautiful beaches and areas that beckoned. In the end, no amount of beauty could overcome these slum like conditions. LF had better get this under control. Get a freaking Workers Permit Program going ASAP. 1 or 2 year assignments and back to Haiti when the contract is over!! Again, the Achilles heel of DR: lack of institutional organization and clarity.
From: United States
Get them out and return them back to Haiti.
Written by: martin, 15 Feb 2011 9:53 AM
From: United States, boston to S.P.M 23
diablo esta gente donde sea k kaen es como una plaga
From: Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata
The way this country is being run reminds me of a headless chicken.
Written by: Pepe32, 15 Feb 2011 10:55 AM
From: Dominican Republic
Evil Dominicans !!
Haitians are poor and have every right to go where they please,besides if not for them the whole world would be slaves and the US and South America would not be independent Everyone is so ungrateful with Haiti.
Who cares if DR is run over
Who cares if the ecological disaster in the west spreads eastward
Who cares if the already fragile infrastructure collapses
Who cares if Creole eventually overtakes Spanish
The important thing is the needs of Haitians and what Dominicans need does not matter!
So stop being such evil Dominicans and accept your fate........
From: United States
Pepe32-Great combination of sarcasm, reverse pschology and the use of hyperbole as an excellent way to impress upon and emphasize the negatives of remaining indifferent to the massive influx of undocumented Haitians into Dominican territory.
We do however want to make one point perfectly clear, we are not against the Haitian people per se. What we are against is the chaos, the uncontrolled, unregulated migration of illegals that do not belong and should not be in the DR in the first place. The massive presense of undocumented aliens and the uninterrupted flow must be halted immediately. If left alone and ingnored the Dominican people will pay a very high price, unsolved the consequences no doubt will be severe.
From: United States
@martin :
Pepe32 was being sarcastic.
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
I think this subject has to be looked at very objectively . Firstly there are many hotels and associated tourist businesses as well as construction companies who want to have a supply of very cheap labour and they pay next to nothing .The labourers are very often from Haiti and they earn a pittance but the word gets out that there is work in Bavaro and so more Haitians arrive .
If the employers paid a fair wage and if they insisted on seeing valid visas , then the problem would be much less , because Dominicans would accept the work at the higher wages and they do not need a visa.
Why are the Haitians crowding into this area which is so far from Haiti and from Santiago and Santo Domingo ..only for one reason ...It is because they think they can make some money . If there were no places offering work they would not have come .
So much of the solution is with the hotels as well as with the police and the government .The hotels want to have their cake and to eat it also
Written by: lovingit, 15 Feb 2011 2:07 PM
From: United States, Delaware
Ricardolito,
I couldn't have said it better myself.
From: United States, NJ (M_ S Cibaeno 100%)
Like a good neighbor the Haitians are there.
Se jodio esta mierda.
From: United States
@Ricardolito- Exactly. There is a reason why they are there, always is. There must be some type of program setup to allow both sides to benefit some kind of way. But those in the Government and Business have to realize that there is certain level of responsibility that they have to maintain. There is a large number of Haitians who are in need of work, and there is a corresponding need of cheap labor, HOWEVER, there also has to be some organization to the matter that will keep things balanced and in control. Just sitting back until things get uncomfortable to run and tell ''Mommy and Daddy" to fix it is NOT going to work, because unfortunately "Mommy and Daddy" are being just as irresponsible.
From: United States
Ricardolito I agree 110%. Problem is we have idiots at the border letting anyone in and a greedy corrupt government looking at profits of the few as being more important than the state of our country. We are a haven for criminals of all type who are willing to pay the bribes to keep themselves out of jail and keep their lucrative drug trafficking business going. Only until it becomes egg on our face or another country specifically asks for people to be brought to their country for justice do we ever see anything done.
We still have no criminal trials and punishments shown to us publicly for those involved in large drug organizations which we know people have been prosecuted or are being in other countries. We know for a fact they had assistance from our military, police, and government officials and yet we see nothing be done to them.
Our President just goes on vacation and looks the other way through all of this while he is trying to get as rich as possible before his term is ov
From: Haiti
This is Haiti's problem that has cascaded into the DR and we, as Haitians, need to take more accountability for this problem. I have not heard anything from the Haitian government or the Haitian ambassador to the DR on this huge problem. Where are their voices in all of this?
From: United States
Haiti needs to do absolutely NOTHING
This is a dominican problem on dominican soil for dominicans to solve.
You guys REFUSE to close your border.....you REFUSE to stop hiring haitians.....you REFUSE to stop allowing haitian students in your schools.......you REFUSE to SEAL the border to prevent movement of people and trade.
Then deal with the consequences.....and stop the whining.
Written by: Perez, 16 Feb 2011 3:32 PM
From: Dominican Republic
This is what Hotelier get for hiring cheap labors. Now they should SUCK IT UP! I feel sorry about the area.
From: United States
It's ridiculous that these illegal immigrants are founding slums right under the gov't's noses.
The immigration dept needs to conduct early morning raids and truck those without papers back to the border. Then it will be the Haitian govt's problem. There are not enough jobs for 2 million Haitians, so obviously a good proportion of this invasion force are idle and just consuming our natural resources. I fear for the forest and rivers. They will be subject to deforestation and pollution due to the Haitian practice of using trees for cooking (destroying what took nature decades in a matter of hours) and relieving themselves in our rivers spreading diseases. .
Smaller
Bigger
Close Gallery
Facebook
Digg this
del.icio.us
Technorati
Yahoo
Haitians are poor and have every right to go where they please,besides if not for them the whole world would be slaves and the US and South America would not be independent Everyone is so ungrateful with Haiti.
Who cares if DR is run over
Who cares if the ecological disaster in the west spreads eastward
Who cares if the already fragile infrastructure collapses
Who cares if Creole eventually overtakes Spanish
The important thing is the needs of Haitians and what Dominicans need does not matter!
So stop being such evil Dominicans and accept your fate........
We do however want to make one point perfectly clear, we are not against the Haitian people per se. What we are against is the chaos, the uncontrolled, unregulated migration of illegals that do not belong and should not be in the DR in the first place. The massive presense of undocumented aliens and the uninterrupted flow must be halted immediately. If left alone and ingnored the Dominican people will pay a very high price, unsolved the consequences no doubt will be severe.
Pepe32 was being sarcastic.
If the employers paid a fair wage and if they insisted on seeing valid visas , then the problem would be much less , because Dominicans would accept the work at the higher wages and they do not need a visa.
Why are the Haitians crowding into this area which is so far from Haiti and from Santiago and Santo Domingo ..only for one reason ...It is because they think they can make some money . If there were no places offering work they would not have come .
So much of the solution is with the hotels as well as with the police and the government .The hotels want to have their cake and to eat it also
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Se jodio esta mierda.
We still have no criminal trials and punishments shown to us publicly for those involved in large drug organizations which we know people have been prosecuted or are being in other countries. We know for a fact they had assistance from our military, police, and government officials and yet we see nothing be done to them.
Our President just goes on vacation and looks the other way through all of this while he is trying to get as rich as possible before his term is ov
This is a dominican problem on dominican soil for dominicans to solve.
You guys REFUSE to close your border.....you REFUSE to stop hiring haitians.....you REFUSE to stop allowing haitian students in your schools.......you REFUSE to SEAL the border to prevent movement of people and trade.
Then deal with the consequences.....and stop the whining.
The immigration dept needs to conduct early morning raids and truck those without papers back to the border. Then it will be the Haitian govt's problem. There are not enough jobs for 2 million Haitians, so obviously a good proportion of this invasion force are idle and just consuming our natural resources. I fear for the forest and rivers. They will be subject to deforestation and pollution due to the Haitian practice of using trees for cooking (destroying what took nature decades in a matter of hours) and relieving themselves in our rivers spreading diseases. .