Evens was forced to flee Haiti to survive
He begins by describing how he left Haiti a few years ago to avoid being killed because of his sexual orientation. “People in my country don’t accept gay people: in fact, they wanted to kill me for being gay. Yes, kill.” Evens tells us this in Spanish, a language he has learned during his time in the shelter.
He clearly remembers the day he realised he had to flee Haiti. In his opinion, he had not been targeted up until that point because his grandmother was a highly respected figure in the community. But one night, when he was on his way to a birthday party in a different neighbourhood, a man stopped him, told him that there were “no gays allowed” and beat him up.
Evens decided to leave soon afterwards because he was scared of being attacked a second time – with even more force. He fled, unfortunately by himself. “My boyfriend couldn’t come with me because we didn’t have enough money for both of us,” he laments.
After leaving Haiti in 2021, he arrived in Brazil, where he stayed for two years, working and learning a little Portuguese. As a result, Evens’ Spanish is mixed with French and Portuguese.
However, after a while, Evens chose to leave Brazil because he was suffering discrimination and did not feel safe there either. He thought it best to travel north, find a more stable situation and save enough money to bring his partner out of Haiti too. Evens has now been living in a shelter in Mexico for several months, waiting for his refugee application to be accepted.
To get to this point, Evens has crossed 10 countries – on foot, by bus, by whatever means possible.
“It was very dangerous in all the countries, but the most difficult were Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala and here in Mexico,” he recounts. Echoing the testimonies of other refugees and migrants, he describes what happens at the Guatemalan border: “Even if you pass safely through all the countries, you then arrive in Guatemala and often get kidnapped. The kidnappers take all your money – and I saw how they touched women and children inappropriately too.”
Like Evens, many other Haitians seek refuge in Mexico. In 2023 alone, Mexico received more than 43,000 refugee applications from people from Haiti.
Indeed, Haiti is in the midst of a serious humanitarian crisis. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 5.5 million people were projected to be in a situation of severe vulnerability in Haiti by the end of 2024.
Every day, thousands of Haitians are being forced to leave their homes due to high levels of violence from criminal groups who rape, extort and murder with impunity. As a result, the population faces severe limitations when it comes to exercising and enjoying their most basic rights. This danger is compounded by poor access to basic services, the effects of prolonged drought, and other disasters such as hurricanes and floods.
“I just need peace and a good job, so that I can work and bring my boyfriend here,” says Evens. “Even better if I can go to school to learn something and then work too.” He adds: “If you can get out of Haiti, you should. It’s my home and I will always love it, but Haiti is now a cannibalistic country.”
Evens’ dream is to study and get a good job, “so that people in [his] country understand that a gay person can be a good person”.
*Names and other details in this story have been changed for the safety of the contributors.
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