MIAMI – Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitians who lived in the Dominican Republic continued to abandon their homes to cross the border Monday, as the voluntary exit deadline for the undocumented arrived.
Haitian media personality Carel Pedre, reports on the entertainment industry in his popular radio show Chokarella, Creole for Carel's show. He recently interviewed deportees in Tete-a-l'eau in the Sud-Est region of Haiti.
An unidentified woman said that she was often the victim of humiliating insults in the Dominican Republic. She was denied medical attention at a hospital and kicked out, she said.
"'Leave, leave, get out, leave, respect, you are a demon,'" a woman said she was told.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Updates on the situation from Haiti-Dominican border
Pedre shared the dramatic interviews in Creole on Sound Cloud with his 39,400 followers on Twitter. Pedre, who travels to Miami often, said Dominican officials pushing the immigration law were causing a lot of suffering.
His interviewees said there was hunger, a sense of desperation and uncertainty about the job market. His post had been played about 2,398 times in four days.
Local 10 News' Neki Mohan and Samuel Darbouze traveled to Haiti. Their report airs on Local 10 News at 11 p.m.
The immigration law -- endorsed by a small group of ultra nationalist politicians -- created a humanitarian crisis, Haitian officials said. According to Dominican authorities, the estimated affected were 450,000, about 290,000 were able to register and nearly 31,275 have left the country.
The Dominican deadline for Haitians to register -- and meet what were in most cases unreasonable requirements -- at overloaded registration centers was June 17. The deadline for voluntary exit if unable to register was July 6.
Haitian ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Daniel Supplice, said Saturday in an interview with Le Nouvelliste that his government has not been able to help those requesting documentation.
Families are being separated and the meager donations coming in are not enough to help the new arrivals, according to Haitian media.
Pedre came in contact with the crisis back in June when the Haitian president's son, Olivier Martelly, organized a free concert featuring Lil Wayne and Chris Brown in Port-au-Prince.
Follow Local 10 News reporter Neki Mohan on Twitter @NekiMohan
Carel Pedre's interview in Creole
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