Santo Domingo, January 21 (RHC-PL) -- Dominican Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General William Muñoz Delgado, said that since the beginning of the year, some 20,000 Haitians have attempted to cross the border.

However, he did not consider the situation as worrying "as it is normal that to this date Haitian migration increases, as many illegals went to their country for Christmas and New Year to visit their families", he explained.

The border with Haiti, he added, is safeguarded and prepared militarily to face any circumstance facing the socio-political crisis affecting the neighboring nation.

Thanks to operation Shield, executed from the end of December, the border was reinforced and the country also has a strategic plan to evacuate consular personnel in case of a political uprising in Haiti, he said.

The statement of the Defense Minister was released at the Foreign Ministry, where he was invited by the Foreign Minister, Andres Navarro, where he was summoned on occasion of signing a military agreement with the United States.