The authorities of the Dominican Republic also returned 107 young girls since the deportations of illegal Haitian migrants intensified, amid the tense diplomatic relationship between the two countries and the increase in insecurity in Haiti, according to information published by the Le Nouvelliste newspaper.

Santo Domingo tightened immigration controls since the end of October and limited access to public hospitals to undocumented people, putting thousands of illegal Haitians at risk.

Migration agents even entered the clinics, took the pregnant women out and led them to buses.

The Ministry of Feminine Condition and Women’s Rights expressed its dismay at the treatment to which the women were subjected to, describing it as “hunting down Haitian nationals” and condemned the “inhuman deportations.”

For its part, the United Nations (UN) office in the Dominican Republic demanded the cessation of returns of pregnant women and recalled that the actions violate the process established in the protocols and international conventions that prohibit the deportation of pregnant women, infants, the elderly and the sick.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also called on the government of Luis Abinader last Tuesday to respect the principle of non-deportation, protect pregnant women in mobility and guarantee them access to health.

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