Dominican Republic under fire as deportations of pregnant and breastfeeding women to Haiti rise (2025)

By: The Associated PressPosted: 8:15 AM CDT Friday, Apr. 25, 2025

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The United Nations and human rights activists are warning about an increase in pregnant women being deported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, where they say their lives are being put at risk.

Less than 40% of health centers in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, remain open as gang violence surges.

Meanwhile, the University Hospital of Mirebalais, which has around 300 beds and is located in Haiti’s central region, has suspended operations, according to a statement Thursday from the U.N.

The U.N. said two other hospitals in that area “face critical shortages, including oxygen and emergency medical kits.”

The two hospitals have treated more than 200 patients for gunshot wounds, strokes, malnutrition and suspected cholera since the Mirebalais hospital closed, according to the U.N.

U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that many of those deported “arrive in precarious and highly vulnerable conditions, often without any resources.”

The International Organization for Migration said that it has seen an increase in women deported from the Dominican Republic in recent weeks, along with children and newborns.

It warned they’re being deported to a country “where access to basic services remains severely limited.”

The increase in those deportations comes as the administration of Dominican President Luis Abinader implemented a new measure this week requiring hospital staff to ask patients for their identification, work permits and proof of residence.

The measure is one of more than a dozen announced earlier this month to crack down on migrants living in the Dominican Republic without legal permission, as people in neighboring Haiti flee a surge in gang violence.

On Tuesday, the Dominican Republic’s migration agency arrested 48 pregnant women and 39 others who just gave birth, along with 48 minors. On Wednesday, agents arrested 78 other migrants at hospitals, although the agency didn’t provide additional details.

Amnesty International on Thursday called on Abinader’s administration to repeal the measure, saying it “must take concrete action against racial discrimination.”

Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

Abinader visited the shared border on Thursday, telling soldiers that it was “completely unacceptable” to let through any migrants trying to enter the Dominican Republic illegally.

He also dismissed criticism by Amnesty International and called on the rights group to work in Haiti and address its crises.

“My responsibility it to defend the Dominican Republic,” he said.

Overall, the Dominican Republic has expelled more than 180,000 people since October, when it announced mass deportations.

Haiti’s transitional presidential council on Thursday condemned what it said was the violation of human rights of Haitians in the Dominican Republic and called on the government to prioritize bilateral dialogue.

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