Ruddy L. González
When the Berlin Wall was demolished on November 9, 1989, the world understood that, in addition to the political symbol of this event – the end of the “Cold War” – it was the bugle that the odious barriers of geographical divisions were a thing of the past. But no.
From 1989 to the present, more than fifty have been raised worldwide, and the Dominican Republic is on the list.
The government announced, through President Luis Abinader, in its speech to the Legislative Chambers on February 27, that what he called a “fence” – which is the same as a partition wall – will be erected to try to establish more effective controls on conflicting, “porous” and sensitive border with Haiti.
Walls, “fences”, barriers of various kinds and denominations that are raised at the borders – and even in the territories of the same nation to “separate” the sectors – for reasons of war, as in the case of Israel, which has six barriers to its borders with The West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, but the vast majority of those built today are aimed at trying to stop the waves of illegal immigrants, as is the case in Europe, with France and Spain in Calais and Ceuta in America on the borders of the United States with Mexico and the latter with Guatemala.
The project to build a wall separating the Dominican Republic from Haiti from land along the dividing line marked by the so-called international highway was announced by President Abinader, stating that “in two years, we want to end the serious problems of immigration. illegal, drug trafficking and stolen vehicle trafficking that we have suffered for years and we are protecting our territorial integrity that we have been seeking since our independence ”.
Nationalists and pro-Haitians
Discussions on the state of relations with Haiti have intensified in recent years, with its load of passions, harsh and controversial confrontations, fueled by groups calling themselves nationalists and others classified as pro-Haitian, beginning with Judgment 168-13, issued on September 23, 2013 by the Constitutional Court, which established for the first time the clearest concepts on the status of foreigners – the case of Haitians is the emblematic issue – indicating that they are considered only citizens born in the national territory of Dominican parents or legal residents.
The status of Haitian immigrants – the vast majority undocumented, illegal and of which there is no real inventory – has provoked discussions in which there is a strong component of their impact on the national economy – construction, harvesting crops on the ground. -, the health problem with the large number of women coming to give birth in Dominican public hospitals and serious cultural and religious differences and language barriers.
“Nationalist” groups are proclaiming the so-called “peaceful invasion” of Haitians in the Dominican Republic, while pro-Haitians demand respect for the rights of all people and solidarity between nations and citizens.
Until a few years ago, Haitians living in the country were concentrated in the vicinity of bats in sugar cane production areas, but until this century they were inserted in most areas of the country, the vast majority being those working in construction. , private and governmental, in street sales, but also as security guards, gardeners, public transport drivers and in the private sector and even in other activities in official institutions. In general, they live in groups in urban areas, and their participation in the criminal commission is not alarmingly high.
“I think the initiative (of President Abinader) is interesting, but I don’t think it can solve the Haitian border or immigration problem,” Dominican Ambassador to UNESCO Andrés L. Mateo said in an interview with the Morning Course program. Positions in this regard are shared by less strident groups on the border issue and who regularly argue that military presence and the use of technology should be sufficient to maintain strict border control, both in terms of immigration. without discrimination. transfer of prohibited goods, such as drugs, weapons and stolen vehicles.
On the other hand, the most conservative and pro-nationalist groups are radical in total control of the border, by any means, including promoting a dividing wall.
“This announcement by President Abinader deserves the support of the entire Dominican people, because for the first time there is a decisive intention to control the uncontrolled immigration of Haitians on our territory,” said Pelegrín Castillo, a former deputy and leader of the Progressive National Force. was interviewed on the program El Rumbo de la Tarde. FNP was the head of the champions for the “de-Haitianization” of the country, border control and promoters of building a dividing wall at the border.
For political analyst Orlando Gil, “the walls were a failure … the case of the Donald Trump government on the border with Mexico just proved it … that’s why I don’t agree with the walls, because it costs a lot of money and they didn’t solve anything, which what the authorities have to do is have effective controls, “he explained in a commentary on Oye País.
100 million and two years
The “fence” announced by President Abinader will cost more than $ 100 million, according to Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez, which would have been obtained through long-term financing and would take about two years to build. According to the Chancellor, it is intended to cover about 190 kilometers – the border is about 390 kilometers – of which there are currently “fences” in about 23 kilometers where areas between the two nations are controlled, in places considered “heavy traffic “” And is expected, according to the official, to be “covered” by about 30 kilometers by the end of 2021, especially in what are considered “easily accessible areas”.
“In the second half of this year 2021 – President Abinader said in his speech on February 27 – we will begin to build on the dividing line between the two countries: the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the new measures to strengthen security, which will combine the means physical and technological and will include a double perimeter fence in the most conflictive sections and a simple one in the rest, as well as motion sensors, facial recognition cameras, radars and infrared systems ”.
He also explained that “however, in a period of two years, we want to put an end to the serious problems of illegal immigration, drug trafficking and the transit of stolen vehicles that we have suffered for years and to obtain the protection of the territory. our integrity that we have sought since our independence … also, according to the mandate of our Constitution, we recently created the National Defense and Security Council, by presidential decree, through which we will address the implementation of the comprehensive protection of our border ” .
The construction of the “fences” will be auctioned and will have the means of financing, said the foreign minister, who announced that they have contacted two companies, one Israeli and the other Spanish – there are about a dozen North American, Israeli and European companies dedicated to construction of walls and / or “fences”, experts in this type of work. “The goal is to create the conditions for achieving different goals.