Folks from Juana Mendez, on the Haitian facet of the border, wait in useless to be allowed to cross into Dajabon, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. The Dominican Republic partially reopened its border with Haiti on Wednesday to restricted business exercise almost a month after shuttering the frontier in a unbroken spat over the development of a canal concentrating on water from a shared river. (AP Photograph/Ricardo Hernandez)
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic on Thursday accused Haiti of a number of border violations within the newest dispute involving their shared frontier on the island of Hispaniola.
International Minister Roberto Álvarez held a information convention on the difficulty simply days after an armed confrontation between Dominican troopers and members of a Haitian environmental authorities brigade.
The transient standoff stemmed from obvious confusion over border limits. It occurred Tuesday on the northern tip of the shared island close to one among greater than 300 concrete boundaries that delineate the border.
“What occurred is a flagrant violation of Dominican territory,” Álvarez mentioned. “We make a powerful name to the Haitian authorities to imagine management of order of their territory and keep away from conditions that proceed to worsen the already delicate state of affairs.”
A spokesman for the workplace of Haiti’s prime minister declined touch upon Thursday and referred to a press release the federal government issued on Wednesday wherein it accused Dominican troopers of violating Haitian territory.
It additionally mentioned that Haitian International Affairs Minister Jean Victor Généus spoke with Álvarez after Tuesday’s incident, and that each side agreed to attempt to calm tensions to keep away from additional escalation.
Lengthy simmering tensions between the 2 international locations boiled over in latest months when Dominican President Luis Abinader announced he would stop issuing visas to Haitians and closed all land, air and sea borders for almost a month in an financial blow to Haiti.
The border closures have been sparked by an ongoing dispute over construction of a canal in Haitian territory concentrating on water from a river that runs alongside the border.
Abinader partially reopened the borders last month, though the visa ban stays in place, and Haitians aren’t allowed into the Dominican Republic for work, schooling, tourism, medical points or different functions.
