Thursday in Ouanaminthe, border town located in the northeast of Haiti, took place the official launch of "Observatory of Migration and Cross-Border Trafficking (OMTT)" whose motto is "No to modern slavery", in the presence of representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Jesuit Network for Migrants (SJM-Haiti) who intend to collaborate with this new observatory.

The OMTT, created by several human rights activists, will work in several cities along the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, said Sylvestre Fils Dorcilus, General Coordinator of the Observatory.

"The Observatory will document cases of human trafficking on the border with the Dominican Republic, with the aim of combating the violation of the rights of migrants and analyze the data to assess the application of international human rights instruments linked to trafficking with a view to formulating recommendations," said Fils Dorcilus adding" it also aims to raise awareness of actors and civil society on the issue of illegal migration and cross-border trafficking, as well as to promote implementation of the 2014 law on the fight against trafficking in persons [...]" recalling that the neighboring Republic expels each month thousands of Haitians who crossed the border to look for work illegally using, in many cases the services of smugglers nicknamed "coyote".

"OMTT will greatly contribute in saving the lives of our compatriots at the border," said Dorcilus, who is committed to encouraging the Haitian and Dominican governments to promote and implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and related national laws.

Friday, commenting on the announcement of the opening of this new Observatory responsible for monitoring inter alia "human trafficking" at the border, the Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Vargas Maldonado said "Haiti has the right to create observatories that it deems necessary [...]" ensuring that, as far as he is concerned, human rights are respected in the Dominican Republic...

SL/ HaitiLibre