Dominican Republic - The IOM mission in the Dominican Republic this week assisted 589 Haitians living in vulnerable conditions in the mountainous region in the country’s southwest to voluntarily return to Haiti.

According to the Dominican Office of Statistics, more than 450,000 Haitian nationals live in the Dominican Republic.  Many of them live in vulnerable conditions, especially those at risk due to environmental and climate changes. Since the 2010 Haiti earthquake, many have chosen to return to Haiti. 

The IOM Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Program (AVRR), funded by the US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and carried out in coordination with the Dominican Republic’s General Directorate of Migration (DGM by its Spanish acronym) and the Dominican Ministry of Interior and Police, has helped 3,598 people to return to their places of origin in Haiti since it was launched in September 2010.

Working with Casa del Caribe, an experienced NGO partner, IOM has been carrying out registration in the mountains around Barahona and at the Jaragua National Park in Pedernales.   IOM also received support from the Dominico-Haitian Human Rights Committee (CODHA) in this latest registration exercise.

This week, in two separate trips, 589 men, women and children were assisted to safely return to their homes in the South East department in Haiti.

A nine-year-old girl personally thanked IOM’s Field Coordinator, Maria Paredes. “My brothers and I need to go back to school,” she said. The child and her two younger brothers, aged six and eight, have not been able to access any education because the nearest school was several hours away on foot. 

During the registration process, applicants asking for IOM assistance to return home cited insufficient access to potable water in a region which is affected by climate change; falling incomes due to failing crops, including coffee affected by lack of water and plant diseases; and pressure to leave the National Park, where at least 1,000 more Haitian migrants are asking for IOM assistance.

The AVRR process – identification, registration, movement, reception and reintegration – begins with a meeting with potential returnees to explain the program. IOM staff emphasize that everyone can change their mind on going back home at any time.

On the scheduled day for return, IOM ensures that the returnees are accompanied by Creole-speaking staff on every stage of the process, which includes escort and assistance in clearing customs and border controls, and transport to their final destination in Haiti.

IOM also issues beneficiary identification cards to be used in accessing reintegration services in Haiti; a stipend of USD 50 per beneficiary for initial costs; a stipend of USD 65 per child given to every mother to help with child maintenance; and hygiene items including soap and chlorine for prevention of cholera and other waterborne diseases. 

Once back home, during the reintegration stage, returnees receive access to business training and capital of USD 200 per adult to start a micro-enterprise. (Sums vary according to the number of adults and/or children in each household.) They can also access an income generation scheme supported by IOM and operated by IOM counterparts. Follow-up is carried out by IOM partner NGOs and/or IOM staff.

On behalf of IOM, NGO partners also deliver education grants of up to USD 150 per school-age child, which is paid directly to schools.

“The demand for return has not decreased.  On the contrary, environmental causes are now a new factor causing highly vulnerable, irregular Haitian migrants to want to return home after years of unsuccessfully trying to support their families and living in the most precarious conditions.  For example, from the Enriquillo Mountains, people have to walk more than four hours to reach the registration site.  At least 600 people living in this area are on the waiting list to return,” says IOM AVRR programme manager Jean Philippe Antolin.

IOM is appealing for USD 2 million for its AVRR programme in the Dominican Republic in 2013 and is hoping to attract donors from both the public and private sectors.

For more information, please contact

Alicia Sangro Blasco
IOM Santo Domingo
Email: asangro@iom.int
Tel: +1 809 688 81 74