US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO1094

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 001094 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, PREF, ASEC, DR, HA 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REACTION TO HAITI CRISIS 
 
REF: STATE 37364 
 
Classified By: DCM LISA KUBISKE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B/D) 
 
1. (SBU)  Dominicans are apprehensive about the unraveling of 
Haiti, defensive about possible overflow onto their 
territory, and unwilling to take in any quantity of refugees. 
Reactions in the Dominican Republic to the unraveling of 
neighbor Haiti are mixed.  The GODR has reinforced the border 
with its best troops, but even these are few and far between. 
 The local press headlines Haiti daily, upstaging the 
presidential election campaign here.  The GODR continues to 
lay responsibility for action on the international community. 
The Senate has unanimously declared that "Haitian problems 
should be resolved in Haiti" and has called on the GODR not 
to accept Haitian refugees.  Embassy on February 20 delivered 
reftel demarche to military and MFA officials, emphasizing 
the need to prevent Dominican territory from being used by 
persons seeking to oust President Aristide by violence. 
 
2. (C) There are now 500-600 Dominican troops assigned to the 
northern border close to rebel-held areas of Haiti, more than 
the usual 300-350.  On February 20 when defense attache 
(DATT) delivered reftel demarche, Secretary of the Armed 
Forces LTG Jose Soto Jimenez replied that the Dominican 
military would do whatever necessary to maintain control of 
the border. He expressed concern that, if rebels take control 
of Cap Haitien as he expects, then Port au Prince would be 
threatened.  DATT cautioned Soto that human rights abuses 
would be unacceptable. Soto Jimenez said that if the OAS or 
CARICOM put together an international stabilization force, 
the GODR might consider sending troops into Haiti, but only 
as part of a multinational effort. 
 
3. (SBU) On February 18 Deputy Foreign Minister Miguel 
Pichardo observed to Charge that throughout the Mejia 
administration the GODR has tried to alert the international 
community about Haiti.  The Dominican Republic wants to avoid 
the disintegration of the Haitian government.  Pichardo said 
an international force should work with Haitian authorities 
and restore order. 
 
4. (SBU) "The Armed Forces assure us that they are in control 
of the border; events have disrupted cross border trade and 
informal markets." He said there is no indication of any 
refugee flows.  He said the GODR does not favor establishment 
of refugee camps on its side of the border.  He informed us 
that the Dominican ambassador and staff continue to work in 
Port au Prince, reporting daily.  Regarding opposition 
fighter Guy Philippe, Pichardo said the military told the 
Ministry that Philippe had crossed the border without arms or 
any fighting force. 
 
5. (SBU) On February 19 the Foreign Relations Secretariat, 
Directorate of Migration and Armed Forces jointly announced 
that repatriations of undocumented Haitians would be 
suspended temporarily.  This was in response to increasing 
violence in the Haitian border town of Juana Mendez, where 
rebels occupied and set fire to a police station.  According 
to Director of Migration Miguel Vasquez, up until the 
decision to suspend, 3,500 - 4,000 Haitians had been 
repatriated in 2004; the military listed 3,148 repatriations 
as of February 16.  Tensions on the border have escalated 
since two Dominican soldiers were killed on February 14 -- by 
Haitians, according to a Dominican legislator from that 
locality; by Dominican criminals, according to the Armed 
Forces leadership. 
 
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ON ALERT 
 
6. (SBU) UNHCR Junior Professional Officer Sandrine Desamours 
is in daily contact with the Embassy and the Armed Forces 
operations staff (J3).  Desamours told poloffs February 18 
that there had been no mass migratory flows.  On the 
contrary, the number of Haitians requesting asylum had 
declined dramatically over the past three weeks, from 3-4 
cases on intake days to virtually none.  She said the number 
of Haitians crossing the border with legal documentation has 
been steady, most of them entering through Dajabon.  From 
January 1 to February 16, 14,300 Haitians had entered legally 
and 5,814 had departed.  She attributed the dropoff in asylum 
seekers to increased military deployments on the border. 
Desamours expressed concern that fewer Haitian women were 
crossing the border for medical attention, an unusual 
circumstance, and that five Haitians had requested 
repatriation since February 5, hoping to return to Haiti to 
help overthrow Aristide. 
 
7. (C) Director for the International Organization for 
Migration (IOM) Juan Artola (protect), in daily contact with 
emboffs, forwarded reports of preparations by armed 
anti-Aristide groups to attack Haiti's second city Cap 
Haitien and of GOH concern over having underestimated the 
rebels' arsenal.  Artola says that the GODR views the 
prospect of a massive influx of Haitians as a security issue 
and if necessary would eventually order the military to 
prevent Haitians' entry.  MFA Undersecretary for Consular 
Affairs Wenceslao Guerrero Pou had requested information from 
him on international norms regarding displaced persons and on 
what emergency support IOM could provide.  Artola said told 
the MFA he would seek guidance from IOM headquarters in 
Washington. 
8. (SBU) On February 19 Catholic Relief Services (CRS) 
Project Director Jason Belanger told us the CRS Haiti program 
officer had been evacuated from Port au Prince.  Belanger 
said that the Red Cross was preparing to assist border 
communities and that his CRS program officer had traveled to 
Dajabon to coordinate with that effort.  The Red Cross had 
unconfirmed reports of increased border crossings at night, 
but no reports of mass migration or expulsions.  Belanger 
believed most Haitian migrants would seek destinations other 
than the Dominican Republic, given Dominican animosity 
towards Haitians.  With this in mind, CRS is developing 
contingency plans for directing any mass migration toward 
Jamaica, Cuba, Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. 
 
HAITIAN EXPATS ALARMED 
 
9. (C) On February 18 poloffs met with expat Jean Bertin, 
former Deputy Director of Civil Aviation in Haiti (1991-92), 
longtime resident here who founded the International Alliance 
for Recuperation in Haiti (AIRH).  Bertin said many Haitians 
believe Aristide would step down only if the United States 
intervened to remove him.  He lamented that Haitians are 
consumed with Aristide's departure, not on how to achieve a 
democratic transition. 
 
10. (C) Bertin asserted that the Dominican and Haitian 
governments should work together to find a solution, instead 
of an OAS-brokered agreement.  When asked about Guy 
Philippe's recent return to Haiti, Bertin claimed that he had 
known of the plan beforehand and that Philippe crossed the 
border with a dozen men.  Bertin warned that opposition 
groups in Haiti have no vision and are ill-prepared to run 
the country.  Group 184, for example, needed to be "less 
emotional and more political". 
 
CIVIL SOCIETY CONCERNS 
 
11. (SBU) Executive Director of MUDHA (Movement of Dominican 
Haitian Women) Sonia Pierre told poloff that the GODR lacks 
political will to address problems in Haiti or the plight of 
the many undocumented Haitians living in the Dominican 
Republic.  She considers that the Haitian diaspora here is 
far more concerned with day-to-day survival than with 
politics in Haiti. Like other contacts, she doubted mass 
migration would become a problem. 
 
12. (SBU) Pierre contradicted other reports and asserted that 
random round-ups of Haitians and darker-skinned Dominicans 
had increased recently, particularly in the Santo Domingo 
neighborhoods of Villa Altagracia and Zona Universitaria 
(where many Haitian construction workers live), Boca Chica, 
and La Sabana (in Puerto Plata).  She said she had complained 
to the director of Haitian affairs at the Foreign Ministry. 
She urged the Embassy to continue engaging the GODR on the 
need for a new migration law to protect Haitian immigrants' 
rights. 
 
13. (SBU) Executive Director of MOSCTHA (Socio-Cultural 
Movement of Haitian Workers) Joseph Cherubin claimed to us 
that the Dominican military and police are doing little to 
control the border.  He reported that on February 16, police 
stood by while a group of Dominicans beat Haitian laborers in 
Dajabon to protest the murders of two Dominican soldiers. 
Cherubin also believes mass migration from Haiti will not 
occur because many Dominicans are "anti-Haitian". 
 
HAITIAN CONSUL SPEAKS OUT 
 
14. (SBU) Haitian Consul Jean Baptiste said this week that 
Dominican exporters have stopped transporting merchandise 
into Haiti because delinquents are grabbing it for 
themselves.  Baptiste also accused rebel Guy Philippe of 
killing people in Haiti.  Baptiste did not say exactly where 
on the border Philippe had crossed, but insisted he was in 
Haiti. 
 
ECONOMIC IMPACT 
 
15. (SBU) Violence in Haiti has already disrupted border 
trade.  The Armed Forces chief told us that the border market 
in Dajabon remained closed February 20, depressing border 
commerce and cash incomes on the Dominican side.  However, 
residents in the region still had adequate food supplies. 
(Many Haitians purchase Dominican agricultural products along 
the border such as eggs, plaintains, beans and cabbage. 
After the United States, Haiti is the Dominican Republic's 
main trading partner.  According to the Dominican Republic 
Center for Exports and Investments (CEI-RD), in 2003 
Dominican exports to Haiti amounted to almost USD $112 
million.  About 52 per cent of that trade originated in 
Jimani and 41 per cent in Dajabon.) 
 
GENERAL PERSPECTIVE 
 
16. (SBU) Embassy sources agree that a mass Haitian exodus 
into the Dominican Republic is unlikely, citing the unstable 
Dominican economy, lack of jobs and opportunities, 
uncertainty about the upcoming elections, historical 
animosity between the two nations, and accusations of 
Dominican racism.  The United States is viewed as the most 
likely destination for refugees. 
 
17. (SBU) Despite the military's increased presence along the 
border, the GODR is unprepared for any sudden inflow of 
refugees.  Further significant troop deployments, to the 
border or as part of a peacekeeping force in Haiti, would 
require months of training.  The GODR also has security 
concerns at home, including another possible national work 
stoppage in mid-March, and will be hesitant to draw down its 
garrisons in the capital. 
 
18. (SBU) The Senate's resolution on Haitian refugees clearly 
signals that they would not be welcome.  The GODR's failure 
to process more than 200 pending refugee applications from 
years past, to develop refugee contingency plans, or to press 
for passage of the stalled migration law -- despite repeated 
Embassy urging -- are indicative of the general attitude. The 
Government's announced intent to suspend repatriations of 
undocumented Haitians is a welcome exception, but it remains 
to be seen whether random round-ups of sugar workers cease. 
 
19. (SBU)  Humanitarian problems could arise as truckers 
refuse to deliver foodstuffs in the border towns out fear of 
Haitian vigilantes and hijackers.  The situation could also 
have repercussions in Santo Domingo neighborhoods heavily 
populated by Haitian construction workers.  Given the human 
rights record of the military and police, we cannot rule out 
the possibility of human rights abuses.  We do not know 
whether the military is coordinating its contingency plans 
with civilian authorities including the President. 
 
COMMENT 
 
20.  (SBU) Embassy accepts the view, widely held, that 
Haitians are unlikely to flee in any significant numbers 
across the land border.  A further breakdown in Haiti could 
send small numbers of determined armed individuals across to 
seek shelter in the Haitian community here.  We see the 
possibility in such circumstances of increased violence -- 
not only along the border but also in urban settings.  This 
could include increases in general crime, Haitian-on-Haitian 
violence, or Dominican attacks on Haitians. The prevalent 
distrust between the two ethnic/national groups continues and 
can only be exacerbated by the crisis next door. 
HERTELL