Pavel Isa Contreras, the Dominican Minister of Planning and Development, in an interview on the national TV network CDN channel 37 acknowledged that in the Dominican Republic there was a speech of hatred and rejection against Haitians.

The Minister said that there is a deep anti-Haitian sentiment that has been cultivated since the days of dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo and that although it is not done by national governments, it is promoted and nurtured by local government leaders who make "fiery" nationalist rhetoric.

"I think it's against Haitians, because they are black and because they are poor, there is deep racism in our society and there is a deep rejection of Haitians, that our own educational system reproduced, there is a discourse that points to a racist line and there are sectors that bet on it, let's lower our voices and sit down to discuss [...]

[...] There are two aspects, there are people who have a legitimate concern about migration, it should be everyone's concern, to claim and demand from the State to apply a more rigid and effective migration policy, there is no doubt about it and it is irreproachable, but hatred must be avoided, the rejection and denigration of migrants, this should not be the basis of good public policy."

SL/ HaitiLibre