FIRST ISSUE OF DOMINICAN MFA'S POLICY MAGAZINE

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001112

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SMIG DR
SUBJECT: FIRST ISSUE OF DOMINICAN MFA'S POLICY MAGAZINE
EXAMINES BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH HAITI



1. Summary: Haiti is the focus of the Dominican Republic,s
first number of a new foreign policy review released at the
close of 2005. Among texts are President Leonel Fernandez's
speech at a seminar where he presented his priorities for the
border region and other quasi-official statements. The
Dominican official strategy for the cross-border relationship
includes developing the border region both physically and
socially, addressing Haitian migration through continued
repatriations, and calling on the international community to
take responsibility for Haiti. End summary.


2. Haiti, its problems, and its effect on the Dominican
Republic are issues that have been on the steady rise in the
Dominican Republic since May of 2005 and now stand at the
forefront of Dominican domestic and foreign policy. Haiti
and the "Haitian issue" make press headlines daily, and at
the close of 2005 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released
its first foreign policy review, which it dedicated to Haiti
and the crisis that has led Haiti to become a "failed
state8. The design of the first number is striking,
featuring a color photograph, wrapping from front cover to
back, of the grim yellow-orange gates at the Dajabon border
crossing, with a crowd of Haitian faces waiting stoically for
the opening.


3. A note from the editor explains that this quarterly
journal is a reflection of the issues of highest interest and
relevance to the Dominican Republic's foreign policy. The
journal will include professional, academic, social,
cultural, economic and political analysis, as well as
articles and speeches by Dominican authorities.

OFFICIAL POLICY


4. Official policy presented in various documents may be
summarized as follows:
The deterioration of the security situation in Haiti has
created an environment more open to alien smuggling, drugs,
arms, and human trafficking. As these factors threaten
national security, the Dominican authorities stress several
aims:

-- Develop the border region both physically and socially.
Through the creation of the Provincial Development
Consultative Council, authorities have now identified the
priorities for the region that the government can take on
immediately. The Council should be proactive and seek
technical support from international organization to supports
longer-term development goals that are sustainable. Its
initiatives should also link the government to private
sector, civil society, and the international community.

-- Continue repatriations with appropriate respect to human
rights. Historically the Dominican Republic has lacked a just
and humane migration policy toward Haiti. President
Fernandez considers that mass repatriations violate human
rights. At the same time, he stresses that the Dominican
Republic has a sovereign right to protect its territorial
integrity and repatriate all foreigners who enter the country
illegally. This a right that is not up for discussion.

-- Continue to call on the international community for
support. Haiti cannot do it alone and the international
community should assume responsibility with respect to Haiti
that will help strengthen democratic institutions, stimulate
economic growth, and respond to its social problems.

-- Carry out a National Census of Foreigners. The National
Council of Migration, established in the 2004 Migration Law,
proposes to conduct a census of foreigners, with the proposal
to provide residence documentation for those already in the
country for more than 10 years.

-- Reinforcing Border Protection. Security forces are
working to develop a plan for better enforcement of the
border and are carrying out studies to determine points that
are most vulnerable.

-- Demarcating the Border. Haiti and the Dominican Republic
signed an agreement to reconstruct the damaged and lost
markers that establish the line dividing the two countries.
This work remains to be accomplished.

-- Reactivating a Bi-national Mixed Commission. This
mechanism will serve as a permanent venue for discussion and
debate of the bilateral agenda.

-- Provide More Resources for Diplomacy. Strengthening the
MFA Division of Haitian affairs will reinforce its role as a
unit that links together government agencies to coordinate
issues related to Haiti.




4. Other works presented in the foreign policy review
include:

-- Historic Perspective of Dominican-Haitian Relations by
economist, historian, and former Ambassador to the United
States Bernardo Vega. An erudite but engaging review of the
bilateral relationship, including apt and evocative
historical and literary quotes. Vega discusses Trujillo's
ambivalence toward Haitian leaders and stresses the breakdown
of the government-to-government system of contracting Haitian
laborers for sugar harvests and then repatriating them.

-- The changes in Haitian Immigration and the Dispute over
the Numbers. Two sociologists do the numbers: the estimates
of the resident Haitian population range from 250,000 to 2
million. Over the past two decades, the number has become
difficult to determine. Crisis in Haiti has pushed
indivudals across the border and demand for labor in the
Dominican Republic has pulled them. Following the 1991 coup
in Haiti, bilateral control arrangements fell apart, flows
increased, and Haitian laborers became important in coffee,
tobacco, and banana industries. The majority of Haitians and
Dominicans of Haitian descent are undocumented. The
Migration Directorate has records of only 416,737 Haitians
living in the country as of 2003, a figure likely to be very
far from the undetermined actual population.

-- Chronology of the Political Crisis in Haiti by Ambassador
Inocencio Garcia, head of MFA Haitian Affairs. Factual
account of the official view.

-- Haitian Migration in the Dominican Republic: New
Dimensions to an Old Problem by sociologist and academic Jose
de Castillo. Growth of the undocumented population, as
individuals responded to a wide array of economic incentives.

--Advantages and Disadvantages of a Commercial Integration
Between the Dominican Republic and Haiti by economists
Rolando Reyes and Adolfo Marti. Theoretical tract.


5. The journal concludes with a summary of related MFA
activities. Embassy has sent a copy of the journal to the
Department's Ralph Bunche Library.
KUBISKE