NewsWhore
03-12-2007, 06:10 PM
The Bishop of the Mao-Montecristi dioceses, Diomedes Espinal de Leon, complained over the weekend that the north west of the country was a forgotten area and that the army units in the frontier zone encourage the passage of undocumented Haitians, charging RD$50.00 for every illegal migrant who passes through their checkpoints. Espinal said that those responsible for human trafficking do not control the checkpoints and these have become virtual "tollbooths" for the military. Most of the trafficking occurs during the early evening and night. Bishop Espinal pointed out that the Haitians have to make as many as eight payments at the checkpoints on the route between the frontier town of Dajabon and Mao. The illegals are often returned to Haiti if they do not have enough money for the last "toll." A lot depends on the route chosen, according to the prelate. If they travel from Dajabon via Santiago Rodriguez to Mao, then there are five or six "toll stations", and if the migrants choose the route from Dajabon to Montecristi to Mao along the Duarte Highway, there are eight checkpoints. The bishop was also very vocal in his complaints about the illegal commercial traffic across the border, something that is well known, but about which little is done.
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