BRIDGETOWN, Barbados � The Caribbean Community (Caricom) says it disagrees with statements that the 15-member regional grouping "has been slow" to deal with the unfolding situation in the Dominican Republic, where people perceived to be of Haitian descent are being deported from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean country.
"I disagree, I fundamentally disagree," CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Rocque told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) ahead of the July 2-4 summit of regional leaders in Barbados.
The Dominican Republic gave a deadline of June 17for people of Haitian descent to apply for legal residency. Hundreds of people, mostly low-wage workers from neighbouring Haiti, waited in line for hours to submit residency applications under a registration initiative that began last June.
The Dominican Republic has said migrants who can prove they entered the country before October 2011 can qualify for legal residency. Otherwise, they could face deportation.
The move by the Dominican Republic has drawn criticism worldwide, with Caricomurging DR to halt the policy of deportations.
La Rocque said that the issue will be among agenda items to be discussed by the Caricom leaders and told CMC regarding the Dominican Republic matter "not everything you do is in the public limelight.
"The region has been engaging (the Dominican Republic issue). If one goes back to the CELAC (The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summit in Havana, there was no publicity about it. It was a major issue on the agenda there from CARICOM in the presence of all of Latin America.
"It was again raised recently with the European Union... the committee has adopted a certain stance towards the Dominican Republic that is well known and we are seeing the results of this".
Asked whether he expected regional leaders to adopt an even stronger position towards the Dominican Republic that is seeking membership of the regional grouping, La Rocque told CMC "a lot would depend on the stance the Dominican Republic takes in the coming weeks".–CMC