Dominican president warns of ‘drastic measures’ if anti-gang mission in Haiti fails

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The president of the Dominican Republic warned Wednesday that his administration would take “drastic measures” to protect the country if a U.N.-backed mission in neighboring Haiti targeting gang violence fails.

Luis Abinader did not provide details of what action he might take during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Gangs in Haiti control 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince, and they have grown more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The violence has left nearly 700,000 Haitians homeless in recent years, and thousands of them have fled Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

Abinader thanked Kenya, which is leading the mission in Haiti with nearly 400 police officers from the East African country recently joined by nearly two dozen police and soldiers from Jamaica and two senior military officers from Belize.

The personnel, however, falls significantly short of the 2,500 pledged by various countries for the mission, which the U.S. government warns is lacking resources as it considers a possible U.N. peacekeeping mission.

Abinader said the current mission needs to be fully established so that free and transparent elections can be held. Haiti has not held elections since 2016, and a transitional presidential council was ordered to do so by February 2026.

“Practically one year from the holding of elections, the conditions are still not in place to do so,” Abinader said as he expressed concern over the future of the mission. “We cannot allow the effort made to date to fail. If that were to happen, Haiti’s collapse would be imminent.”

Earlier this year, gangs launched coordinated attacks targeting critical government infrastructure. They raided more than two dozen police stations, opened fire on the main international airport, forcing it to close for nearly three months, and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing roughly 4,000 inmates.

The attacks led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the creation of a transitional presidential council.

“More than three years of instability in our neighboring country has put significant pressure on our own security,” Abinader said. “The Dominican state has shouldered a high responsibility in the Haitian crisis, far more than should be expected of it.”

Abinader said that last year, 10% of medical appointments involved Haitians and that 147,000 of 200,000 foreign minors in the Dominican education system are Haitian in origin.

“The crisis in Haiti warrants particular attention,” he said. “We can’t do it alone.”

Under Abinader, Dominican officials last year deported more than 170,000 people believed to be Haitians, according to government data. But the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration has estimated the number is closer to more than 224,000.

Activists have long criticized Abinader and his administration for what they say is the ongoing violation of the human rights of Haitians and those born in the Dominican Republic to parents of Haitian descent.

Abinader has rejected those accusations, reiterating Wednesday that “the Dominican government is profoundly committed to protecting human rights.”

In his speech, he noted that the Dominican Republic’s 19% poverty rate is the lowest in the country’s history, and the murder rate has dropped to 10 killings for every 100,000 inhabitants, compared with 13 in 2022.

The president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, Edgard Leblanc Fils, is scheduled to speak Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly.

He and other government officials did not immediately respond to messages for comment following Abinader’s speech.