The Dominican Republic has closed its borders and stationed its military on all borders with Haiti. Only medical emergencies are being allowed in to the Dominican Republic. Most of the passes into the country are 4-8 hours from the impacted area in Haiti. Because of destroyed infrastructure, the trip is now taking 10- 12 hours.
It was unclear about traffic going the other direction, from the Dominican Republic into Haiti as rescue crews begin to arrive. There is no air traffic tower at the Port -au- Prince Airport in Haiti. Landing is possible but crowded and risky. The harbor is so damaged that ships cannot dock. Looting has become rampant and buildings are simply too dangerous to enter. There is a huge risk of disease. Aid workers are camped at the airport. The Red Cross office in Port-au-Prince has been destroyed.
Should the Domincan Republic close its borders to earthquake victims and refugees? Is this behavior un-humanitarian? Can the Dominican Republic absorb that many people? Ethical questions become more immediate in the wake of a national disaster.
UPDATE: Audio of Washington Post reporter going to Port-au-Prince via the Dominican Republic:
That’s a tuff one. I think the first priority of any country is to protect its own first. With the danger of disease and disorder, I kinda see why they would. I think some order/system needs to be restored/in place first. I don’t know…it is just so tragic!
It is a tough call but I can see their point of view. DR is almost a revitalized country they have a great reputation (earned) for tourism and resorts. Having hundreds of thousands of refugees would tank their economy. And then there is the human side….
How soon would any of us start the NIMBY mantra?
I would think the DR are working with other rescue efforts and doing what they can at this point.
Mr. Howler says their borders are always sealed off. I think they have just upped the ante a little. Actually, he said they have always had border guards and check points. now they have dispatched their military to guard their border.
Conversely, Haiti has 9 million people and 9 thousand cops. 1 cop for every thousand people? Are our own ratios that much different here in PWC?
They have no army from what I have heard. This is certainly a situation that can deteriorate even more. Shudder.
I hope, since they aren’t letting people in, they are helping a LOT with the rescue efforts. Otherwise, I think that’s just terrible.
I don’t know what they are doing. I also don’t know if areas in their country were hit at all. How can things be that close and not impacted.
There are 2 ways to look at this, Pinko. Why do refugees need to go in to the DR? They have the rest of Haiti to escape to.
If you are a tourist with a vacation planned to DR, do you want to have to go through tent city to get to your vacation? That is how the DR will be looking at things. They are protecting their country and their economy. Hard call to make though.
They just had a documentary on The History Channel called Apocalypse Man and it gave me some idea as to what is going on over there as we speak. Did anyone else see it? It was a really neat show.
http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=524654
I understand that U.S. Marines are on the way and an Army unit at Fort Bragg is standing by in case they are needed. One of our carriers — the Carl S. Vinson — should be arriving within a day or two out of Norfolk. Also one our largest amphibious ships is said to be headed that way with a load of troops and related equipment — probably also relief supplies. Wonder if this might be the first major mission for the USS New York? The first U.S. ship to arrive at Port-au-Prince was a Coast Guard cutter out of Guantanamo — commanded by a lady captain, thank you. Upon arrival in Haiti, she was told that half the Haitian Coast Guard personnel had been killed by the earthquake. Man, o man, what a tragic mess!!
I had the wrong name of the show that reminds of what is going on now. Although, I did watch that one too. The one I meant was called After Armagedden
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2559391/history_channels_after_armageddon_.html?cat=39
As far as the number of military personnel in Haiti is concerned, I believe there have been UN “Blue Helmets” there for quite awhile. I also understand that the U.N. personnel took quite a hit, both civilian and “Blue Helmets.”
I think every nation has a right to seal it’s borders if it so chooses, you can’t just have a monster influx of refugees from a country hit by a natural disaster, or some other problem causing internal strife. It may sound harsh, but imagine what it would do to the Dominican Republic if say even 10% of Haiti’s citizens in the next week or two fled to the Dominican Republic? I’m sure they aren’t being cruel – they are just being realistic. Why should two countries’ economies, etc. be overwhelmed rather than just one. And, I’m sure there’s plenty of aid being given by the Dominican Republic to its neighbor – but then again I don’t know what the relations have been between the two historically.
And, I’m sure really, the border has always been protected, it is just moreso now in anticipation of a huge amount of Haitians trying to flee the country.
There’s the reality that no one country can be expected to all of the sudden have to take in a huge amuont of refugees of another country. I’m sure the dominican Republic is not “wealthy” and the strain on their own economy and infrastructure would be severe. Every country has a right to look out for its own self interests.
Thanks for the information, both Wolverine and REd Dawn.
Wolverine, do they or do they not have a standing army? I am relying on TV for my information.
What are blue helmets?
Israel has also sent Israeli Defense Forces to Haiti as I understand it. They have a long history of having gone to other problem areas when there have been natural disasters like this to help out. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2cnhgC2880 which mentions they are on the way to Haiti.
To have that ratio it follows mathematically that since as of 2008 PWC had a population of 364,000 roughly – it would have to have 364 police officers. If it has more than that, it has a better ratio, if not – it has a lower ratio. I don’t know how many police officers PWC has, and the picture gets muddied by exactly what counts as a “police officer” – i.e. sherrif deputies, detectives, etc.
However, the cultures and economics are different – and a higher level of police officers in Haiti may be needed compared to PWC, in my way of thinking.
Good point, GR. Also DR must also protect itself against disease that is bound to errupt. Current conditions create of germ melting pot.
Kudos to GR for this article:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/13/haiti.earthquake.medical.risks/index.html
Yes, the disease issue is an excellent point. What country would want to all of the sudden have its health infrastructure overwhelmed? Can you imagine if in the next 3 weeks there was an immediate influx of 10% of Haiti’s population into the Dominican Republic?
Yes, that article I sent you MH is very interesting reading and points out that Haiti already had some unique issues with things like unusual tropical diseases and stuff, that the last thing they really needed was something like this to happen, in terms of their health issues.
Moon, Haiti has no army, navy, or air force. They were all abolished a few years ago when a major effort was begun by the UN and others to make a serious effort to bring Haiti out of political tyranny, economic chaos and overwhelming corruption. The armed forces still exist on paper but not in reality. Law and order is maintained by the National Police and the Coast Guard —or whatever is left of either of them now. The “Blue Helmets” are UN military peacekeepers, who have been there for some time to enforce the new rules and back up the total revamping of the Haitian government and economy. Some of the “Blue Helmets” are from Brazil, others from a Middle Eastern country, I think. Not sure of the rest. I just saw that at least 16 of the “Blue Helmets” died in the quake. If you look again at the video of various rescue efforts, the guys with the blue helmets are UN military personnel.
Have GL and the Red Dots volunteered to help seal the border?
@Mom
I think I just saw a flock of carrier pigeons with M.O.’s fly over WG/Sudley.
It’s a national security issue. The Dominican Republic has every right to seal its borders to protect its citizens.
Bwaaaaahahahahahahha! Perfect, MoM. The Red Dot brigade is on the move….headed south, lead by..their fearless leader [Ed. note: self censorship kicked in. Upholding a NY resolution.]
All kidding aside, yes, Opinion, it is their right and responsibility.
I expect there as always been a great deal of illegal immigration into DR also, even going through jungles and horrible under-brush.
It is critical now to keep the military on those crossings to protect the Dominican Republic, its people and its economy. Conversely, can you imagine the criticism if the current government opened its borders to Haiti now?
I would think any nation that’s a neighboring nation with such a catastrophe would seal it’s borders immediately. Nations have an obligation to their own citizens first and foremost. The DR simply couldn’t not handle a refugee situation.
I worked with a couple of people from the DR and Haiti. The stories they told of day to day to life would make most shudder. I can’t begin to imagine the struggles they are faced with today.
If DR [edited by request.] opened it’s borders there would be utter chaos. I fear the chaos and riots will start in Haiti when the support efforts(all types) make it to the streets of Haiti. I saw a clip last night of hundreds of people running inland. There was rumor that a tsunami was possible, and people start to run for their lives they thought. Only for the looters to move in.
Edit please..If the *DR* opened it’s borders…..
There is a history of conflict and tension between Haiti and the Dominican
Republic that goes back centuries. Haiti conquered the DR several times,
but was thrown back and then there was the 1937 mass killing of thousands
of Haitian immigrants.
Recently tension has risen again over large numbers of illegal Haitian immigrants
entering the DR (while a poor country still far better off than Haiti, even before
the quake). Beheadings of immigrants from Haiti have been reported.
Help Save Santo Domingo?
HSSD?
From reading about Haitian-DR’s history and current relationship,
it appears DR citizens look down, in general, on Haitians.
One article notes “What is alarming about these events is the
rapidity, anger and brutality of how Dominican mobs react to
rumoreed misdeeds of Haitians”.
FYI – A number of Haitians feel Americans don’t know or care what
they did to help America in her youth – even if was inadverdent.
In the early 1800’s Napoleon sent troops to protect New Orleans from
his British foe, but ordered them on the way, to put down a slave
rebellion in Haiti which turned into a huge defeat for the French.
Consequently, Napoleon, unable to protect his American colony,
sold it to the the USA — the Louisiana Purchase.
Poor Richard. You are making me misbehave and write things I shouldn’t. Whine.
PR answered my question about DR and Haiti’s relationship over the years. I didn’t know, but I guessed it maybe wasn’t all good.
Putting that aside, I agree with several others that DR, like any nation, has a right to seal its borders when there’s strife in a neighboring nation. It just makes sense. In this case though, there’s obviously some historical animosity between the two countries.
I suppose they are admitting that they did that just so we could buy the Louisiana Purchase. NOT. The leap in logic is astounding. I suppose it would sound arrogant to tell them that the debt was repaid about 20 hurricanes ago…when we sent in relief.
I don’t know what one does about a Haiti situation. Look where a humanitarian point of view got Jimmy Carter. Not reelected.
@Moon-howler
I understand that, MH. But I also said they should be helping out if they are indeed keeping people out. They are neighbors, for goodness sakes.
@Mom
LMAO!!!!!
So other countries have figured out how to seal their borders? Why can’t we figure it out?
And so what would those here suggest we do if they were on our Southern border? This I’ve got to hear.
@Moon-howler
Trying to play with some formatting…..
———————————————————————————————————-
I expect there as always been a great deal of illegal immigration into
DRthe USA also, even going throughjungles andhorrible under-brush.It is critical now to keep the military on those crossings to protect the
Dominican RepublicUSA, its people and its economy. Conversely, can you imagine the criticism if the current government opened its borders toHaitithe USA now?———————————————————————————————————-
Does that work?
@RingDangDoo
No one ever claimed that selfishness, intolerance, ignorance, and prejudice was limited to any one country or any one race. But if your point is to refute this unmade claim, I have to agree with you.
MH,
And we sent in the Marines and took over the country for over twenty
years and then left it in more of a mess than we found it.
Did the Haitians ever say “thank you” for that? Nope.
(But we did build the Presidential Palace that collapsed this week.)
Factoid: The Dominican Republic tried to join the US in 1870
but Congress voted it down — needy Haitians would have
been crossing OUR borders by the thousands.
I know very little about Haiti, I have to confess. I do know that there are many in this country illegally, right here in PWC even.
I have only known one couple to vacation in Haiti, back in the 50’s. My favorite cousin and her husband both honeymooned there. They brought me back haitian maracas or however you spell it. I have no idea why they chose Haiti. Do cruise ships even stop there for ports of call?
Haiti, to me, is a bit like some of the world’s biggest problem nations. Reminds me of Somalia and the Arab/Israeli issue. One problem begets yet another one.
Where do you start? I read in the NYT that the average salary in Haiti is less than $2 a day. The island has been deforested over the years, hence the mudslides when it rains and then the floods. They have had several dictators, overthrown democratically elected Presidents and CNN just said that over the years the US has given them $5 Billion in aid in addition to monies from other nations. Yet nothing seems to get any better. The people seem no better off than they were a decade ago.
So how do you nation build without actually taking over the nation? Can Haiti ever reach even the social or economic level of Cuba or Trinidad or any other of the islands around them?
I hope the assistance given relieves the plight of the people of Haiti and certainly gives them the opportunity for a better existence. But based on previous attempts and actions, I would not bet on it unfortunately. I hope I am wrong.
Hi Lucky Duck, how is life treating you?
Funny, I just told Elena tonight that Haiti sort of reminded me of Somalia.
I fear you are right also.
What about Rush Limbaugh’s comment that we have already been giving to Haiti through our tax dollars. The White House stated that it was a ridiculous statement, and yet LD’s post above would support that he was right on.
Haiti was not in the middle of a disaster when it ‘got our income taxes.’ We need to respond with humanitarian aid as we would any to any regionthat just suffered the effects of an earthquake of that magnitude.
Haiti’s immediate problems are urgent and involve life and death. The political problems of this country were there before the earthquake.
Limbaugh and Robertson are both known for their bad timing and insensitivity. Why should now be any different?
SA, more….Actually very few of us know much about the internal workings of Haiti. It isn’t a country that draws us to it…for the very reasons some contributors on here have stated. Lucky Duck in no way was talking about Haiti in general. He was not saying we should ignore humanitarian efforts or that we should not contribute to charities that will bring in first aid, etc.
@Moon-howler
Probably more than you ever want to know about Haiti https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html
SA, I guess in a roundabout way, out tax dollars did reach Haiti, but what I was saying was that the problems seem so profound and institutional can we just simply throw money at them and assume they will be fixed? Can we rebuild a nation from the outside? It doesn’t seem like it as the past record with Haiti shows.
In no way was I implying or saying we should not conduct humanitarian efforts. That is the ethos of who and what the United States is. We do that (even to former enemies – The Marshall Plan after WWII) even though we get little or no return out of it because its the right thing to do.
But if we want to see that nation survive, then thrive, we need to look long term at Haiti and decide as a govenment what we want to do. Do we just throw cash at unstable governments? My original question was how to rebuild a nation from the outside and it still stands.
MH…life is good! Warmer too! Thank you for asking.
Opinion, thanks. I will catch up on my reading this morning.
Lucky Duck, glad to hear it. Warmer but you are also a brave man in your new endeavors. 😉
It looks like we were both on the same theme this morning….the Marshall Plan. I swear I did not read your comments before putting up the new post. Great minds, I suppose.
As usual, we are glad you are here and I hope you aren’t going to work today. Friday is always a good day to take off.
I heard it put this way on the radio yesterday: if you think of New Orleans/Katrina, compared to the situation in Haiti – the majority of residents in New Orleans affected by Katrina – they would be considered “upper class” in Haiti. Gives you an idea of the poverty level there. Like Lucky Duck, I heard it was less than $2/day average wage – in fact they said it was more like $1/day. Either way, definitely the majority of Haitians lead a very very poor life.
The other thing is Haiti’s infrastructure is just not good. Some people are saying that the equivalent of the Marshall plan is needed, and that the only good thing out of this, is it is a chance to build up Haiti’s infrastructure the right way so the country is stronger in the future. Too bad it had to come to this though to force that to happen.
And, as Lucky Duck was saying – one hopes another thing that will come out of this will be a more stable government in Haiti. It does seem like the government in place up until now has not been good. The question is, will it remain unchanged, or will this enable that problem to be fixed.
Is nation-building in our self interest? It might be cheaper in the long run.