Outrage Grows in Haiti’s Northeast Over Dominican Republic’s Deportation of Unaccompanied Haitian Children

The Haitian TImes

FORT-LIBERTÉ — The Dominican Republic’s intensified deportation of Haitian children, often without their parents, has provoked widespread outrage from human rights organizations advocating for child protection in Haiti’s Northeast Department. These forced deportations have severe consequences, leaving children vulnerable to exploitation, violence, and family separation.

“These deportations worry us greatly,” Nerline Mompremier, coordinator of the Association of Women of Ouanaminthe, said.

 “Children aged 0 to 17 are being deported without their parents to the Haitian border, which puts them at significant risk. The Dominican government must immediately cease these inhumane practices. The rights of children must be respected,” Mompremier added

According to Rémy Occéan, coordinator of the Haitian government’s Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR), the agency welcomed 59 unaccompanied children, including 37 boys and 22 girls, forcibly deported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti’s northeast border in September alone. Occéan decried the inhumane conditions in which these children were sent back, without paperwork, often barefoot, with torn clothes, and in a state of extreme hunger.