Dominican Republic president says things will get drastic if UN Mission in Haiti fails

The president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, cautioned on Wednesday that his administration would take “drastic measures” to safeguard the country if a UN-backed mission aimed at addressing gang violence in neighboring Haiti does not succeed. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, he did not specify what actions he might pursue.

“More than three years of instability in our neighboring country has significantly strained our own security,” Abinader said, noting that the Dominican Republic has taken on an excessive burden in dealing with the Haitian crisis. He pointed out that last year, 10% of medical appointments involved Haitian patients, and among the 200,000 foreign minors in the Dominican education system, 147,000 are of Haitian origin.

“The crisis in Haiti deserves urgent attention,” he stressed. “We can’t do it alone.” Under Abinader’s administration, more than 170,000 individuals believed to be Haitians were deported last year, according to government statistics. However, the UN’s International Organization for Migration estimates the figure to be over 224,000.