The first Arab immigrants to arrive in Haiti reached the shores of the Caribbean country during that middle to late 19th century.
[1] During the time, Haiti's business sector was dominated by German and Italian immigrants.
World War I, which took place when Lebanon was part of the Germany-allied Ottoman Empire, triggered a Lebanese migration to the Americas, with Haiti receiving a large number of Lebanese immigrants.
For years, they were shunned by the elite mulatto Haitians because of amicable interaction with the poor masses, their willingness to do business with the masses and their inability to speak French.
This relationship changed gradually over the years as their prominence grew in Haiti's business sector and consequently, a large percentage of them reside and do business in the capital of Port-au-Prince.