#JeVaisMourirBientôt: In Haiti, a journalist's cry of despair in the face of insecurity

An anti-gang police officer operating in Port-au-Prince, March 3, 2023. REUTERS - RALPH TEDY EROL

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Launched Monday morning, on his Facebook page, the hashtag #JeVaisMourirBientôt, initiated by journalist Cyndie Régis, begins to spread on social networks. It is a cry of despair in the face of the climate of insecurity that prevails in Port-au-Prince.

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With our correspondent in Port-au-Prince, Marie André Bélange

In a photo taken in what looks like a garden, two fingers raised and a sign in hand that reads: "I'm living in Haiti, #ImGonnaDieSoon#JeVaisMourirBientôt".

The journalist, a former employee of Radio Télévision Caraïbe (RTVC), intends to express her despair in the face of the security situation that has largely deteriorated in the Haitian capital where armed bandits kill, burn and kidnap under the passive gaze of the authorities.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cyndie Régis Raymond (@cyndieregis)

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The situation degenerates and we can not function normally, explains the young woman to justify her message. I can't live, I mean going out, having fun and especially leisure, there's no such thing. So stress kills. We have nowhere to relax. We must not go to school, education is so important. We have no security and even the police are confused.

« I just want to live »

This cry is also a way for the young woman to say that she does not want to leave her country, as thousands of Haitians have ended up doing. "I went to school in Haiti, I went to university in Haiti. I think it's normal as someone who wants to create something for his country, for his life first. I don't have to make a decision to leave the country. I just want to live and there is no place where you feel better than in your country.

Many Internet users have appropriated the hashtag of Cyndie Régis, who now wants her appeal to reach the ears of the authorities so that life can resume in the Haitian capital.

In the first two weeks of March alone, gang clashes left at least 208 people dead, 164 injured and 101 abducted, according to OHCHR spokeswoman Marta Hurtado. "Most of the victims were killed or injured by snipers who allegedly fired indiscriminately at people in their homes or on the street.

► Also listen: "Putting Haiti back at the center of the international agenda is a challenge," says UN in Port-au-Prince

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Read on on the same topics:

• Haiti
• Criminality
• Society
• Freedom of the press
• Human rights

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