©️photo : The Newlist
Port-au-Prince, July 8, 2026.- The Group of Support for Returnees and Refugees (GARR) draws up in its bulletin for the month of May 2026, a disturbing picture of the migratory situation. The report highlights an increase in violations of the rights of Haitian migrants in the United States, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and other countries in the region, in a context marked by the tightening of migration policies.
During the month, several major events marked the current migration. From 5 to 8 May, the UN Member States adopted in New York a declaration setting global migration priorities for 2030.
The Dominican Republic signed a memorandum with the United States to welcome some evicted migrants, excluding Haitians, before announcing the resumption of commercial flights with Haiti from 30 May after two years of interruption.
The Bahamas expelled 107 Haitian nationals in an irregular situation, while the US Coast Guard and the Turks and Caicos Islands Police intercepted a boat carrying 240 Haitian migrants in distress off the archipelago.
GARR also denounces the persistence of serious human rights violations. In the United States, the organization refers to the ill-treatment of migrants held by ECI, including pregnant women, as well as an increase in suicides in detention centres.
In the Dominican Republic, she reports the continuation of evictions, cases of racial profiling, separation of families, extortion and ill-treatment, while recalling the controversial death of the 14-year-old Haitian teenager Nanita Pimentel Paul, who was under the responsibility of the Dominican authorities.
In the field, the GARR Reception Centre in Belladère assisted 732 migrants expelled during the month of May, including 584 men, 101 women and 57 children. These included eight pregnant women, eleven nursing women, three persons with disabilities and twelve unaccompanied minors.
The organization provided them with food, shelter, hygiene products, clothing, psychosocial support, referral and transport assistance, while calling on the States of the region to respect the human rights of migrants and strengthen protection mechanisms.
W.E.
