'The Peaceful Invasion'

The Peaceful Invasion

01/08/10 15:11

It was more than a hundred years ago when Haiti forcefully occupied the Dominican Republic (in 1844, to be exact) and controlled it for 22 years, but up to this very day, the Dominicans still have this hatred towards their neighbors, in general.

And now that we are seeing Haiti to be the inferior nation (I believe some sources say that Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere) from an economic standpoint, it is easy to see why the Dominicans sometimes appear to be condescending. Illegitimate expulsions based solely on ethnicity are usually made in the Dominican borders.

What's interesting about this is that the two countries have the same origins, but the Dominicans seem to deny that they really have African roots. Instead, the Dominicans historically feel that they are like their former white masters. Hypocritical? To an extent, probably.

Today, rampant violation of the Dominican Republic's migration laws are even more rampant because the illegal Haiti immigrants who went to their respective homes in Haiti for the holidays are now going back across the border. Illegally, of course, but not when you have enough money to bribe police forces. Unsurprisingly, some police officers have already become rich through this process.

Meanwhile, the media seems to be in the frenzy of calling it the "Peaceful Invasion," probably as a reference to the war that had happened more than a year before. These groups of undocumented people usually amount to about 200. What's surprising is that they do everything in public view. No hiding whatsoever.

What's obviously lacking is the amount of honest police officers who will monitor the illegal immigrants and catch them. There's obviously the lack of intelligent and enough control.

According to Jesuit priest Regino Martinez, director of Border Solidarity, there should be a legal framework that can be used to control the borders and disseminate information. Until this framework is set up, the police officers will get more money and the media will be crazying over the 'peaceful invasion.'

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