Anti-Haitian protests in the Dominican Republic turn violent as group calls for mass deportations

FORT-LIBERTE, Haiti —Haitians living in the Dominican Republic town of Hoyo de Friusa were harassed on March 30 during an anti-Haitian protest led by the nationalist group Antigua Orden Dominicana (AOD). The demonstration, which called for the expulsion of Haitian migrants, escalated into violence as protesters bypassed security barricades and clashed with police.

Protesters claimed that undocumented Haitian migrants were responsible for crimes in Hoyo de Friusa and in the neighboring towns of Punta Cana, Bávaro and Higüey where protests were also planned. The protest is the latest episode in the ongoing tensions between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In September 2023, a dispute erupted over Haiti’s construction of an irrigation canal near the border. That same year, Dominican President Luis Abinader launched a mass deportation campaign targeting Haitians, further straining relations between the two nations. In January, the Dominican General Directorate of Migration reported 14,633 Haitians were expelled from the Dominican territory in the first fifteen days of the month alone.

“They [demonstrators] threw rocks at the police who were there to prevent them from entering the neighborhoods where Haitians live,” said Santiago Molina, a Dominican lawyer who defends Haitians facing discrimination in the Dominican Republic. Molina witnessed the chaos following the demonstration earlier in the day.

The demonstration drew dozens of the Antigua Orden Dominicana (AOD) draped in black and waving Dominican flags, chanting slogans like, “Out with the foreigners, the Republic belongs to the Dominicans!” 

“No to the presence of undocumented Haitians in Dominican territory,” demonstrators were chanting as they marched in the streets of Hoyo de Friusa.

Despite hundreds of guards deployed ahead of the march, tensions escalated around 6 p.m. when demonstrators veered off the authorized protest route and forced their way into the neighborhoods where most Haitians live in Hoyo de Friusa. The situation worsened as the nationalist group, initially blocked from entering Haitian areas, pushed forward, bypassing security forces attempting to hold them back.

In response, Dominican police and guards fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse the demonstrators. In the ensuing chaos, several protesters were arrested, according to witnesses.

“Guards fired tear gas into the crowds to disperse demonstrators, leading to chaotic scenes as several protesters were arrested,” Molina said.

“According to my friends, the march was over, but tensions were very high. There were riots and attacks against Haitian houses,” Mackenson Firmin told The Haitian Times while crossing the Ouanaminthe-Dajabón bridge at the Haiti-Dominican Republic border. Firmin said he had left the country ahead of the demonstration out of fear for his safety.

Molina, the Dominican lawyer, had spent the weekend organizing caravans to move Haitian families out of Hoyo de Friusa to safer locations ahead of the protest. His efforts continued throughout the march as tensions heightened.

Firmin fears the violence will persist, as the nationalist group has vowed to continue its actions beyond the Sunday march.

“I am coming back to my country because I heard the Dominican group will continue their attack against Haitians in the town,” said Firmin, who was living in Altagracia, a locality in Hoyo de Friusa.

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