When I was leaving school with my son, they tried to kidnap us, Arestil confides in Nadie, a mother of four whom she met in Montreal North, where after an exile in the Dominican Republic and then in the United States pulled.
It is difficult for her to forget the violence that has raged in this Caribbean country since the beginning of the year, in the midst of a serious political, economic and security crisis, particularly since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July.
Gangs can come into your home, and even if you have big barriers, they’ve seen through them, Ms. Nadie testifies. It’s business. Sometimes they plunder. Occasionally, [ils entrent] kill kidnap
Threatened with kidnapping, Arestil Nadie went into exile with her children via the Dominican Republic and the United States.
Photo: Radio Canada
If she narrowly escaped such a fate, unfortunately that was not the case for her sister or a cousin, both victims of uncontrolled violence on the island, she continues.
“I didn’t want to stay there, I was afraid for my children and for myself. »
— A quote from Arestil Nadie
The Haiti en Folie Festival, which ended in Montreal on Sunday, was also an opportunity for the performers and the audience in attendance to show their support for the Haitian people loud and clear.
stuck
The protection of the population remains an important concern. According to the United Nations, more than 471 people were killed, injured or missing between July 8 and 17, 2022.
The UN also reports serious incidents of sexual violence against women as boys are recruited into gangs. Around 3,000 people fled their homes, including hundreds of unaccompanied children, while at least 140 homes were destroyed or burned down.
What touches me most is the fact that the international community is turning its back on us, which Kenny Marchand, owner of Haiti’s home appliance store MK Electro for 25 years, denounces.
Kenny Marchand owns the home appliance store MK Electro on Saint-Michel Boulevard in Montreal.
Photo: Radio Canada
Geographic distance hasn’t erased the empathy and compassion he feels for his compatriots. My brothers and sisters who are dying of hunger… hunger again, it’s 2022! indignant Mr. Marchand. We live like in Port-au-Prince, it’s very stressful, says Joseph Frédéric Louis, another Haitian we met in Saint-Michel.
On the island, the explosion of crime has the population living in fear of heinous kidnappings committed by over-armed gangs who impose their laws on the country and discourage those who wish to travel there.
I have parents over there, it’s really hard, confirms a young Haitian woman I met on the streets of Montreal.
We don’t know if we can go there, we wonder how far it will go, we fear for the people there, continues this Haitian who hasn’t been there for four years.
From January to June, the United Nations recorded 934 murders in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. At least 234 people were killed or injured by gang violence in the Cité Soleil district in the week of July 8 alone. In our country, the situation of the Haitian diaspora obviously causes great concern. Report by Melissa François.
Guns and Complicity
Jean Fils-Aimé notes that there are many reasons for the dramatic situation. This political scientist of Haitian origin wonders in particular about the origin of the weapons in circulation, weapons of war that are expensive.
All investigations show that these weapons arrive through the United States, are transported through the Dominican Republic and end up in Haiti, he said. But who has the money to buy them? The guys we meet come from slums.
In his opinion, the origin of weapons is diverse: business people and politicians use them to intimidate their competitors, he analyses. Many of them have private ports through which shipments could pass.
There are many who also point to the responsibility of the state, such as Joseph Frédéric Louis.
In theory, Haiti is an independent country, but it’s not quite so because it’s under the tutelage of major foreign powers, he stresses. We can’t find people anymore [pour gouverner] like our ancestors who sacrificed themselves to give us this freedom.
Based on information from Mélissa François