Around two weeks after the start of the conflict between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, data from the Specialized Corps for Land Border Security (CESFRONT) cited by the Dominican media N Digital indicated that more than 61,000 Haitians voluntarily left the Dominican Republic due to the construction of the irrigation canal on the Massacre River, prompting the Dominican government to close the border.
According to N Digital, who collected the data up until the day before yesterday, Tuesday, September 26, 2023, Haitian citizens regularly left the neighboring nation without being stopped from doing so. According to credible sources at the cesfront, the voluntary return of Haitians to their country is handled through both formal and informal routes.
One of the media outlets in the Dominican Republic noted that “The most important exodus is taking place through Dajabón.”Specialized Corps for Land Border Security (CESFRONT), however, asked the Dominican media to use caution when disseminating information, films, and pictures from the Haitian-Dominican border, asserting that they did not want the media to disseminate outdated material in order to show the present situation. Recall that, according to information provided by the Dominican newspaper Listin Diario, the Dominican government decided more than a week ago to permit Haitians desiring to return to their country to cross the border twice every day, at noon and 4 o’clock in the afternoon.