Belladère, Haiti, 23 November 2017 - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) opened today, in coordination with the Mayor of Belladère, its second Border Resource Center (BRC). A third BRC will be inaugurated next week in Malpasse. A fourth and final CRF is currently under construction in Ouanaminthe while the BRC in Anse-à-Pîtres has been operational since June 2017.

These structures allow a better identification, guidance and assistance to vulnerable migrants, while providing an equipped coordination space to foster the reinforcement of synergies between local protection actors. Through collaboration with the Institute of Welfare and Research (IBESR), each BRC relies on the support of trained registration officers in the management of vulnerable migrants, including unaccompanied or separated children. BRC’s also provide psycho-social counseling.

“Since the expiration of the registration period for the National Regularization Plan of Foreigners (NRPF) in June 2015, IOM has recorded that more than 229,885[1] Haitian migrants have spontaneously returned or were deported to Haiti. This figure highlights the extensive assistance needs that exist throughout the border region in order to help vulnerable migrants, particularly women and children. The majority of which arrive in precarious conditions (i.e. no access to resources, separated from their families, undernourished, and exhausted from spending several days in Dominican detention centers),” explained Bernard Lami, Deputy Chief of IOM Mission in Haiti.

Nahomie Mesidor Point focal Protection OIM Belladere- Delphine Tardiff Ambassade du Canada - Carlos Rojas-Arbulu Chef de la Coopération Canadienne en HaïtiIt is in this context that IOM, with the financial support of the Canadian government, has implemented an assistance project for migrants entitled, “Assisting Vulnerable Children and Women in the Border areas between Haiti and Dominican Republic.”

This project seeks to reinforce the capacities of local actors to fight against irregular migration and the trafficking of persons through the four official border crossing points in Ouanaminthe, Belladère, Malpasse, and d’Anse-à-Pîtres. The project also seeks to put in place referral mechanisms in order to facilitate greater access to basic services and support the sustainable reintegration of vulnerable migrants in Haiti.

The Border Resource Center constitutes the cornerstone of the project as it allows for the registration and onward referral of vulnerable migrants to specialized institutions ( such as medical centers, hosting centers, among other resource networks supported by the Ministry of Social Affairs). The BRC is also at the heart of protection mechanisms for returning migrants and deportees from the Dominican Republic. It represents the first state institution tasked with ensuring the safe and respectable return of Haitian migrants to their country of origin.

Carlos Rojas-Arbulu Chef de la Coopération Canadienne en Haïti"Canada is committed to putting these BRCs in place to identify the most vulnerable, women, girls and unaccompanied children, who need to be assisted and supported and need to receive appropriate protection services, while aligning with Canada's feminist international assistance policy. Congratulations to IOM and to all project  partners “Assisting  Vulnerable Children and Women in the Border areas between Haiti and Dominican Republic”  for the opening of the Border Resource Center in Belladère’’, declared Carlos Rojas-Arbulu, Head of the Haiti-Canada Cooperation.

To date, thanks to the project “Assisting Vulnerable Children and Women in the Border areas between Haiti and Dominican Republic”:

• 1,927 beneficiaries living in border areas have attained their birth certificates /archives records thanks to the support of our partner ICDH “Initiative Citoyenne pour les Droits de l’Homme”.
• 439 beneficiaries have received Income-Generating Activities to support their sustainable reintegration and 203 children have received school reinsertion packages and are back in school thanks to the activities of CAPAC- “Centre d'Animation Paysanne et d'Action Communautaire”.
• 295 local governmental and non-governmental actors have been trained on fundamental human rights, SGBV prevention, Child Protection, Family Planning, Trafficking in Persons (TiP) and Irregular Migration.

Bernard Lami, Député-Chef de Mission de l’OIM en HaïtiIOM reiterates its unconditional support to the Ministries, authorities, and migration-focused Haitian institutions working to address and confront Haiti’s internal and external migratory problems.. IOM hopes to continue supporting the Haitian government with all of their efforts to insure and promote regular migration and protect the most vulnerable migrants.

For more information, please contact Julie Harlet at IOM Haiti, Tel: +509 4638 8051, Email: jharlet@iom.int

[1] IOM Haiti Border Monitoring Sitrep, tracking returnees from the Dominican Republic, September 28, 2017.