Taiwan to mediate Dominican Haitian immigration dispute

Ma to Initiate Conflict Resolution Talks between DR and Haiti. President Ma Ying-jeou, a strong ally of both the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti, has offered to act as a negotiator in the conflict surrounding the immigration issue between the two Caribbean nations, who share the island of Hispaniola.

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Ma wants to help the DR and Haiti reach a resolution regarding Haitian migrants in the DR and their descendants being forced out of the country due to a Constitutional Court ruling that considers the undocumented aliens transients. Furthermore, their descendants born in the DR have lost their automatic birthright. The backlash from the international community has placed the DR on the defensive. Denying the planned mass deportations were a form of ethnic cleansing, it now says there will be no mass deportations.

The DR, in an effort to calm the roiling waters of dissent, instituted a National Regularization program, during which undocumented migrants could apply for citizenship. But the program has been poorly administered, and claims of document seizures of applicants have been leveled at the government. With threats of mass deportations hovering in the air, thousands of Haitian migrants have decided to self-deport rather than risk being rousted in the middle of the night and loaded onto buses heading towards Haiti.

Ma has said he is hopeful he can conduct a conflict resolution process "within the scope of our abilities." Right now the Taiwanese government says 2 million-plus Haitians are residing in the DR, out of which 200,000 are undocumented.

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Read more: dominican haiti, dominican, Dominican Republic, Taiwan, International

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