Dominicans May Set Up Haiti Refugee Centers

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The government said it will consider establishing refugee centers for Haitians if violence breaks out again in the neighboring country.

President Salvador Jorge Blanco closed the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti when Duvalier left Port-au-Prince on Feb. 7.

Provisional centers would provide temporary shelter, food and medicine to Haitians who flee their homeland, a government statement said Wednesday.

Several leftists organizations said they object to the proposed refugee centers because members of exiled President Jean-Claude Duvalier’s special police force, the Tontons Macoutes, might flee their country if allowed to come to the Dominican Republic.