The Dominican Republic has announced a series of measures to bolster border security and tighten migration control in response to escalating instability in neighbouring Haiti.
President Luis Abinader said on Sunday that security would be increased, despite calls for his country to ease stringent policies as Haitians seek refuge from violence wracking their country.
“We will step up surveillance of the borders with 1,500 additional troops, on top of 9,500 already deployed,” the Dominican leader, re-elected last year on pledges to clamp down on immigration, said in a speech.
Abinader added that he has approved the construction of a new section of a wall that separates the two countries – which share the second-largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba.
The border between the two countries stretches for more than 300km (186 miles). About 54km (33 miles) of border wall has been completed.
The president said his latest order would “speed up construction of the border wall” to add a further 13km (8 miles).
Legal reforms are also on the agenda, according to Abinader, with the goal of using tougher penalties to deter those who facilitate the entry and stay of immigrants into the country.
The increased border measures come as the Dominican Republic eyes the deepening crisis in Haiti.
Chaos took reign in the country last year as violence flared dramatically, leaving an alliance of gangs in control of most of the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
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