DR: Desperate times

One in every ten people attempting to get to Puerto Rico by small boat ends up losing their lives, according to a recent study reported by today’s El Caribe. The International Organization for Migration (OIM) believes that this figure is accurate. The OIM representative in the Dominican Republic, Juan Artola, also believes that three in ten of the illegal travelers is detained and eventually returned to DR soil. Nevertheless, this also means that six out of the ten realize their dream and reach Puerto Rico. This weekend the numbers of Dominicans apprehended by the US Coast Guard were brought up to date. There have been 3,200 Dominicans stopped on the high seas and returned to Dominican territory so far this year. According to Artola these numbers are estimates, and despite the number of deaths and those detained, another grand number managed to arrive. The number of Dominicans detained on the high seas is likely to break the all-time record set in 1995, when 5,430 were taken into custody. From 1 October, 2003 until last week, when the numbers were brought up to date on the Coast Guard website, there had been 4,031 persons detained – implying a loss of 403 lives. The Coast Guard says, according to the AP and DPA, that the numbers of people stopped from 1 October until now had reached 4,849 – a record for any seven-month period.