By Sanon Marc-Antoine, Satellitte 509, July 3, 2026
Dominican authorities are continuing their hardline policy toward undocumented Haitian migrants. The General Directorate of Migration (DGM) announced that it deported 34,226 Haitian nationals in June 2026 alone, bringing the total number of deportations recorded since the beginning of the year to 196,321.
Statistics published by the institution show an acceleration of migration control operations, conducted in several provinces of the country. Those apprehended are transferred to various border crossings before being returned to Haiti.
The DGM also points out that a total of 670,500 Haitians have been deported since October 1, 2024, the date Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Lee Ballester took office as the institution's director general. These figures illustrate the scale of the migration policy implemented by Dominican authorities over the past twenty-one months.
This intensification of deportations comes as the security, humanitarian, and economic crisis continues to destabilize Haiti. Despite repeated calls from several international organizations for respect for migrants' rights and for consideration of the situation in the neighboring country, repatriation operations continue at a sustained pace.
For many Haitian families, these expulsions represent a new human tragedy. Many of those deported had been living and working in the Dominican Republic for several years and now find themselves forced to return to a country facing a serious multidimensional crisis.
As the numbers continue to rise month after month, the migration issue remains one of the main sources of tension between Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo, in a context where diplomatic responses are still struggling to produce lasting results.
Posted July 21, 2026