In statements made to the Listin Diario, one of the main newspapers in the Dominican Republic, the French ambassador clearly and unequivocally stated that there is currently no conspiracy between "France, The United States, and Canada to fuse Haiti and the Dominican Republic."
Ambassador Kreiss: "There is no plot to fuse Hispaniola!" |
Ambassador Kreiss made those comments in regards to questions concerning the Dominican Republic's current plan to offer residence permits to most of its population of Haitian descent, a move decried by other Caribbean islands who may now be forced to offer residence permits to their own "unwanted" Haitian migrants.
This past January, the New York Times reported on the Bahamas: "On Thursday, the Bahamian government announced that the new policy would
go a step further: By next fall, schools will be asked to ensure that
every child has a student permit. The annual $125 permit and a passport
with a residency stamp will be required even of children born in the
Bahamas who do not hold Bahamian citizenship."
The Bahamas, along with other members of CARICOM [the Caribbean Community,] proclaimed that their islands would be free of "illegal" immigrants by 2030. Other members of CARICOM went further: "In Turks and Caicos, a top immigration official vowed early in 2013 to
hunt down and capture Haitians illegally in the country, promising to
make their lives 'unbearable.' The country had already changed its
immigration policies in 2012, making it harder for children of
immigrants to obtain residency. Last year, Turks and Caicos said it
would deploy drones to stop Haitian migration."
The Dominican Republic's current plan to offer residence permits to most of its undocumented Haitian population has been met with such fierce resistance among CARICOM members that there are even fears the European Union-homologue could be planning a coup to overthrow the country's democratically-elected government.
Ambassador Kreiss has, however, denied that there currently exists a plot against the Dominican Republic. She added, "we must recognize efforts by President Medina [DR] to normalize the status of undocumented immigrants, he has done what has never been attempted."
France has perhaps realized that many North Africans die en route to Europe, and many Haitian immigrants die while traveling in makeshift boats, hoping to reach other CARICOM islands, and that the situation must be humanely resolved.