Dominican Republic starts pilot design of border inhabitant card to identify merchants on the border with Haiti

The Dominican Republic initiated a pilot plan for a program to identify border inhabitants coming from the Republic of Haiti. To this end, the Directorate General of Migration (DGM), with the support of the National Institute of Migration (INM RD) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), held the workshop "Pilot design of the border inhabitant card, migration and health crisis" on the weekend of April 24-25.  

This plan will create a sustained policy of formalization, organization and modernization of the daily entry processes of small traders from Haiti, with the aim of strengthening migration management and establishing institutional normality for small border commerce.  

The meeting, held with the support of the Ministry of Interior and Police (MIP) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX), was attended by representatives of various state entities, civil society, the diplomatic corps and international organizations linked to the promotion of the economy and the organization of migration activity in the area, as well as military authorities of the Army, the Ministry of Defense and the Specialized Corps for Land Border Security.  

 "It is important to emphasize the inter-institutional support that this initiative has had, which until now had not achieved the necessary consensus... it has always been a request of border authorities and populations, but now there are many institutions that agree on the need to order these migratory flows", highlighted Josué Gastelbondo Amaya, IOM Chief of Mission in the Dominican Republic.   

Dr. Wilfredo Lozano, executive director of the INM RD, emphasized that the current government presided by Mr. Luis Abinader is very interested in strengthening the process of institutionalization of migration management, where the guiding principle is based on full compliance with the laws.  

This workshop was part of the actions of the Western Hemisphere Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.