During a tour of the facilities of the Detention Center for Foreigners in an Irregular Migration Situation (CPM-Haina), Joseph Pierre Lamothe, Minister Counselor of the Embassy of Haiti in the Dominican Republic, accompanied by the head of the Directorate General of Migration (DGM), Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Lee Ballester, ARD praised the ongoing work at CPM-Haina and expressed optimism about the efforts made by the Directorate General of Migration (DGM) to improve the living conditions of Haitians detained due to their irregular migration status.

The purpose of the visit was to learn about the facilities and the progress of the renovation and adaptation project, as well as the conditions and treatment of illegal aliens transiting through the predominantly Haitian site.

Joseph Pierre Lamothe was accompanied by Jean-François Patrick Pierre, First Secretary; Magdala Guelce, First Secretary, and Hipólito Dolis, attorney in the Embassy's Legal Department. On the Dominican side, Lee Ballester was accompanied by General Juan Vicente Pérez, Colonel Manuel Carrasco, Captain Nancy de la Cruz, and Laura Maríñez, directors of Intelligence, Immigration Control, Finance, and Immigration Affairs, respectively.

After touring all the CPM-Haina facilities and the work plan implemented to optimize space utilization and improve the living conditions of foreigners, the Haitian delegation spoke freely with Haitian immigrants.

They were also shown the multipurpose spaces intended to accommodate pregnant women admitted to the center. They and their children benefit from 24/7 medical assistance, which treats and assesses them, and provides them with packages containing clothing, hygiene items, food, infant formula, etc...

They were also informed that upon arrival, undocumented foreigners are classified by gender and then undergo an individual identification procedure, during which their biometric data and fingerprints are collected in accordance with Dominican law and international standards to which the country is a signatory.

"I am optimistic; if mistakes were made before, the important thing is to know what is being done now to correct them. I see that many things are being corrected, and if this continues, during the negotiations that Haiti will have to conduct with the Dominicans on the migration issue, it will be much easier to reach an agreement on this point," said Lamothe.

S/ HaitiLibre