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DE RUEHDG #0005/01 0061731
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O R 061731Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0470
INFO RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEHBH/AMEMBASSY NASSAU
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0006
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RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0038
RUEHWN/AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000005 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KJUS KCRM ECON EAID DR
SUBJECT: Emboffs Visit DR-Haiti Border Region 
 
REF: A) 08 SDO 770; B) 08 SDO 1717; C) SDO 1307 
 
¶1.       (SBU) SUMMARY: Polchief and Poloff traveled to the border 
town of Dajabon (located in the northwestern part of the Dominican 
Republic) with representatives from NGO Catholic Relief Services 
(CRS) from 11/30-12/01/2009.  Poloffs met with labor lawyers from 
the Solidaridad Fronteriza NGO who advocate for Haitian migrants, 
the Haitian Consul and a representative from the Dominican 
Specialized Frontier Corps (CESFRONT)in Dajabon.  Officials from 
NGOs and governmental agencies spoke about the serious challenges 
facing the border region, as well as issues that affect Haitian 
migrants and laborers, such as deportation/repatriation, racial 
profiling, violence and crime, human rights and labor complaints, 
as well as the need for more coordination with Haitian authorities 
to combat trafficking and human smuggling of Haitian women and 
children. END SUMMARY. 
 
      BACKGROUND 
 
¶2.       (SBU) The disparity in wealth and economic opportunities 
between the Dominican Republic(nominal per capita GDP of USD 4,992 
in 2008) and Haiti (USD 790), leads many Haitians to migrate 
illegally to the DR in search of economic opportunities.  The GoDR 
in its National Report to the UN Human Rights Council estimated 
that it hosts 900,000-1.2 million illegal immigrants, most of whom 
came from Haiti.  Migration officials estimate that only 5 percent 
of Haitian migrants have proper documentation or temporary work 
permits to enter legally.  The rest find their way across the 
border by well-established routes, individually or in groups, and 
often give bribes to border guards to cross at the check points. 
Haitian migrants, undocumented or documented, seek not only 
economic opportunities in the DR, but also access to Dominican 
medical and educational services, as well as abandoned housing. 
According to the Secretary of Public Health, the GoDR has spent 
over USD 56 million on health services to Haitians, undocumented or 
documented, at public hospitals throughout the country since 2005. 
 
¶3.       (SBU) Although the Dominican sugar industry has declined 
in recent years, the demand for Haitian laborers continues to grow 
in other economic sectors.  Haitian migration has been an important 
contributor to the overall economic growth in the DR in recent 
years, though many Dominicans will not publicly admit this. 
According to labor lawyers from Solidaridad Fronteriza, Haitian 
laborers comprise 80 percent or more of the workers in the 
agricultural sectors, including sugar plantations.  Furthermore, 
Haitians, illegal or legal, are heavily concentrated in the 
construction industry, in the tourist industry, in cleaning and 
domestic services, and in informal trade throughout the country. 
As mentioned in Ref C, Haitian laborers are often recruited by 
Dominican employers to work as loggers in the illicit charcoal 
industry. 
 
MARKET DAY-ECONOMIC BENEFITS FOR BOTH SIDES OF THE ISLAND 
 
¶4.       (U)  Poloffs visited the border town of Dajabon on Market 
Day.  Every Monday and Friday, approximately 20,000 people flow 
into Dajabon from Haiti to sell items and buy goods before being 
required by GoDR authorities to return home at 4:00 p.m.  Border 
patrols are suspended during the day to allow free movement of 
goods and people across both sides of the frontier. There are 
concentric circles of security around areas of the Dajabon market, 
but this does not interfere with business of trading and selling 
during the day.  The streets of Dajabon are crowded with hundreds 
of Dominicans and Haitians who peddle their wares on blankets and 
 
on sidewalks in the center of the town, selling goods of all sorts 
from agricultural products to used clothing, household items, 
cosmetics and children's toys.  Up to USD 400,000 in trade occurs 
on any given market day, according to estimates. 
 
¶5.       (U) From the bridge that separates the two countries, 
Poloffs could see a skeletal steel structure erected on land 
adjacent to the Masacre River.  The structure, according to Colonel 
Vargas Munoz of CESFRONT, will hold the new Dominican Customs and 
Migration offices, as well as the new cross-border market.  The new 
market is intended to increase overall security control near the 
border and underscore the legitimacy of Haiti-Dominican 
cross-border trade.  CESFRONT and CRS officials were unclear when 
construction of the cross-border market's infrastructure will be 
opened; the CESFRONT representative offered his candid opinion that 
the unfinished structure is already obsolete, and grossly 
insufficient for the market day crowds. 
 
CESFRONT REPSONDS TO ILLICIT ACTIVITIES NEAR THE BORDER 
 
¶6.       (U) The Specialized Frontier Corps (CESFRONT), a border 
security task force, was established in September 2007 in part to 
curb the entry of undocumented and illegal migrants across the 
Haitian-Dominican border.  There are four official border crossing 
points located on the main roads which link Haiti and the Dominican 
Republic: Dajabon and Comenador in the north, and Jimani and 
Pedernales in the south.  CESFRONT manages all the border crossing 
points and enforces overall border security between the Dominican 
Republic and Haiti.  CESFRONT is composed of officials from the 
Dominican armed forces who rotate every two years.  Most are drawn 
heavily from the Dominican Army (60 percent), with lesser 
participation by the Navy and the Air force (20 percent each). 
 
¶7.       (SBU)  Ref B described the problems of weak border 
controls, corrupt border agents, and well-established routes that 
make illegal entry into the Dominican Republic very easy.  CESFRONT 
officials are tasked with preventing those without proper 
documentation from crossing into the Dominican Republic (NOTE: 
Haitians without visas or temporary work permits are officially 
permitted to enter the DR or wade across the Massacre River only on 
Market Day. END NOTE). Colonel Vargas Munoz claimed, however, that 
the lack of coordination with Haitian authorities complicated his 
duties to manage security on the Dominican side.  Lawyers from 
Solidaridad Fronteriza stated Haitians migrants often suffer 
extortion at the border and receive threats of deportation and/or 
expulsion from Dominican employers and migration officials. 
 
¶8.       (SBU)  Vargas also confirmed trafficking and human 
smuggling were growing problems near the border region, especially 
with Haitian women and children.  Several sources have reported a 
growing rate of Haitian children who are smuggled and trafficked by 
organized criminal networks ("buscones"), to exploitative forms of 
work, or, in the worst cases, to join gangs, work as beggars in 
major cities, or to become victims of the illicit sexual trade.  In 
the last few weeks, Migration authorities repatriated over 50 
Haitian children who were begging and shining shoes in the streets 
of Santiago.  Residents complained to Migration authorities that 
many of the same children who were repatriated returned within a 
few days. 
 
¶9.       (SBU) Thanks to USG's assistance, notable improvements 
have started to develop at CESFRONT's Training Academy. U.S. 
Customs and Border Control (CBP) recently sent two CBP agents to 
the CESFRONT Academy to give technical advice and provide border 
security expertise to CESFRONT officials and new officers. 
Although a major funding source has not been identified to fully 
 
implement a program, CBP hopes to coordinate with other USG 
partners (e.g. NAS) to further support efforts in providing their 
oversight, guidance, and expertise in border operations in order to 
improve CESFRONT's basic and advanced training courses. 
 
MEETING WITH HAITAN CONSUL IN DEJABON 
 
¶10.    (SBU) Haitian Consul in Dajabon Jean Baptiste Bien-Aime, who 
approves visas for Dominicans traveling to Haiti and offers citizen 
services to his fellow Haitians in the DR, said that Haitians are 
able to register their children and receive Haitian passports at 
their Embassy in Santo Domingo or at any Haitian consulate.  The 
USD 50.00 cost for a Haitian passport, on top of other 
administrative fees, however, is sometimes prohibitive.  Moreover, 
he also noted that some Haitian migrants receive temporary work 
permits from Dominican employers, but the work permits do not 
authorize outside travel or grant any legal residency in the 
Dominican Republic. 
 
¶11.    (SBU) Bien-Aime commented that he does not have the 
authority to defend the labor rights of Haitian migrants, but sends 
Haitian migrants who face difficulties, to the Solidaridad 
Fronteriza, the labor rights center located in Dajabon.  He also 
commented that the Dominican authorities are obliged to inform the 
Haitian consulate of deportation and/or repatriation proceedings 
for Haitians; however, he complained he is generally notified only 
after such proceedings are over and the Haitians have already been 
deported. 
 
¶12.    (SBU) During the conversation, the Haitian Consul informed 
Poloffs of a recent deportation case involving two children, born 
in the Dominican Republic to parents of Haitian descent. The two 
children were rounded up by Migration officials while they were 
running an errand for their mother. Both children, who had never 
been to Haiti or known of any family members there, were deported 
to Haiti without the opportunity to prove their legal status in the 
DR or even to contact their parents.  The Consul helped obtain the 
return of the two children to the DR and reunited them with their 
family.  He emphasized this situation was not a unique incident. 
Children born to parents of Haitian descent in the DR, he declared, 
find themselves at a greater risk of expulsion or deportation, 
especially near the border region. 
 
¶13.    (SBU) COMMENT: Serious issues of human 
smuggling/trafficking, illegal immigration, and crime remain near 
the border region.  CESFRONT is taking some steps to address these 
issues, with CBP assistance.  Emboffs, however, saw first-hand the 
need for improved communication between Dominican and Haitian 
diplomats and border officials.  The Mixed Bi-National Commission, 
which is scheduled to meet in April, will provide an opportunity to 
address issues of border security, Haitian migration, and criminal 
activities in the border region. END COMMENT. 
Lambert