Dominican Republic's top diplomat to attend Haiti meetings at UN

Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic Roberto Alvarez Gil addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 21, 2022. /Mike Segar/File Photo

The Dominican Republic announced its foreign minister will travel to New York on Tuesday to participate in a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in neighboring Haiti.

During his trip, Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez will also meet with Haiti's new Prime Minister Garry Conille and his foreign minister, Dominique Dupuy, who have been in the United States this week meeting leaders including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and officials from multilateral lenders.

The two Caribbean countries, which share the island of Hispaniola, have a long history of tense relations.

The Dominican Republic has argued it bears the brunt of insecurity in Haiti, where armed gangs concentrated in the capital have displaced over half a million residents and pushed nearly 5 million people into acute food insecurity.

The Dominican government has built a wall on its border with Haiti where it has reinforced patrols and last year deported over 200,000 Haitian migrants, prompting criticisms from the United Nations and human rights groups.

Dominican President Luis Abinader has called for other nations to contribute more funds and personnel to a U.N.-backed security mission to help Haitian police restore order. A first contingent landed last week but it is unclear when the rest might arrive.

The mission's initial 12-month mandate is set to expire in October.

Ahead of his meeting with Conille on Tuesday, Blinken said the U.S. - the mission's largest financial backer - said the Haitian official "comes to Washington with the strong support of the United States and the strong support of many other countries."

He added that the U.S. is also tracking the progress of Hurricane Beryl and were ready to assist "friends and partners" with storm damages.

Beryl brought strong winds over Port-au-Prince and local authorities put most of the country under alert. Vulnerable populations displaced south due to violence in the capital are at particular risk this hurricane season.

-(Reuters)