On Sunday, the government of the Dominican Republic began construction of a concrete border wall that will cover nearly half of its 392 kilometers (244 miles) border with Haiti.
The construction of the border wall was first announced on Dominica’s Independence Day, February 27, 2021, during President Luis Abinader’s accountability speech.
According to Abinader, the border wall is intended to “drastically reduce irregular migration,” as well as the illegal trade of arms and narcotics, reports the Latin America News Dispatch.
“The benefit for both nations will be of great importance,” said Abinader before pushing the button to begin pouring concrete into the foundations of what will be the wall in the province of Dajabón, some 230 kilometers (143 miles) northwest of the capital.
When finished, the high-tech wall will be 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) thick, 3.9 meters tall (approximately 12.8 feet), and topped with spiked, metal mesh. It will also be equipped with motion sensors, cameras, radars, and drones.
Abinader says the first phase of the project will be completed in about nine months. The wall will eventually have 70 watchtowers and 41 access gates to allow patrols by military troops.
Sharing an island, yet worlds apart
Even though the two countries share the island of Hispaniola, according to Reuters, they are worlds apart in terms of development. Crime-plagued Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, while the Dominican Republic – a popular Caribbean tourist destination – has prospered in the past few decades and is politically stable.
Because of the gang violence and abject poverty in Haiti, many Haitians cross the border into Dominica clandestinely to find work in agriculture or the construction industry.
Currently, close to 500,000 Haitians and tens of thousands of their descendants live in the Dominican Republic, a Spanish-speaking nation of about 11 million people, according to the most recent immigration survey conducted in 2018.
President Abinader is well aware of the ongoing political and economic crisis going on in Haiti, but he also reiterates what he has said before – that his country is not responsible for providing solutions.
To that end, Abinader’s administration has adopted an increasingly hardline stance against Haitian migration in recent months, increasing deportations, including hundreds of pregnant women who were arrested while attending medical consultations, a practice that was criticized by the UN.
