Haiti’s Youth Face Impossible Psychological Dilemma

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — “I don’t see a future for myself in this country. If I leave Haiti, it’s to save my life and plan for the future. Otherwise, I wouldn’t leave,” says Maximilien Duclair, one of many young people struggling to find an income in Haiti’s capital, where gang violence has forced hundreds of thousands into displacement camps.

Since anti-corruption protests in 2020 and 2021 and the eventual killing of the president, Jovenel Moïse, in July 2021, there has been increasing economic collapse, a political vacuum and regular armed clashes in Haiti. Many activities are paralyzed or reduced, including education and formal employment. With the country’s schools and universities closing intermittently, it has become common for students to lose entire semesters and academic years. This instability has undermined young people’s ability to plan for the future and is increasingly driving them to consider a life elsewhere.

In Port-au-Prince, 28-year-old Chedeline Mathé has been living alone for a year. Orphaned in high school, she has looked after herself from a young age, financing her education through part-time jobs and selling various products. In November 2024, she decided to try to migrate to Mexico and used a travel agency for the difficult journey. But as is often the case, the agency scammed her, stranding her in the Dominican Republic. She survived for several months in hiding before eventually being forced to return to Port-au-Prince. She lost the $5,000 that she had paid the agency — all her savings. 

“I just wanted to breathe,” she tells Truthdig, “Here, everything seems stuck.” 

More than a solution to economic difficulties, young Haitians like Mathé view migration as an escape from the psychological pressure of the violence and uncertainty. 

Some 54% of Haiti’s population is under the age of 25. Apart from the school closures, boys often have to interrupt their education to work and support their families financially. Girls are especially hurt by the education crisis, as their parents often prioritize scarce school funds for their boys. Other young people in many neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince and in several provincial towns live with the constant threat of armed gangs, which also inhibits their ability to plan for the future. 

A child born today in Haiti will only be 45% as productive as they could be with full access to education and health care, according to 2020 World Bank figures. This is the most recent data available, and the rate is likely even lower now. More than one-fifth of children are at risk of cognitive and physical limitations, and only 78% of 15-year-olds will survive to the age of 60. 

Further, 37.6% of Haitians are living on less than $2.15 a day, and 37% of youths age 15-24 are unemployed. Faced with a high cost of living, many young people are taking the easy way, choosing to join armed groups. Some are forced to join the gangs. Others still hold out, but have to look beyond their country’s borders for hope of a better life. 

Beyond the numbers, a feeling of helplessness prevails. Young people find themselves constantly waiting for visas or scholarships, a rare moment of calm, or projects that are slow to materialize. That waiting can trap them in a kind of emotional immobility, where they don’t feel able to move forward.

“We live in the present with no future. I could go further if I left this country,” Mathé says. 

The mental health toll mounts

Haitian psychologist Jean Ronald Pétion says he has observed an increase in cases of anxiety, depression and school dropouts directly linked to the country’s chronic instability. 

He tells Truthdig that waiting can be used as a deliberate defense mechanism that allows the psyche to strengthen its resilience. However, when the waiting goes on too long, that resilience typically turns into resignation. “From then on, the homeostasis of the psyche is threatened,” he says. Young Haitians may sink into depression or display self-destructive behavior such as addiction to psychotropic substances or aggressiveness, which in turn can make them even more vulnerable. 

This conclusion is buttressed by a recent study into the psychological well-being of Haitians. The authors from various U.S. universities concluded the socioeconomic and security crisis in Haiti is leading to chronic distress, anxiety, depression, sleep issues, substance abuse, suicidal ideations, PTSD and physical problems such as insomnia, hypertension and heart conditions. 

Pétion believes that, beyond an economic strategy, leaving the country can relieve the intense psychological distress of living in Haiti. However, it also comes with its own set of emotional challenges and uncertainties. 

“Migration is both an illusion and a solution,” Pétion says, “It allows people to cope with the anxiety-provoking situations that they are facing at that moment, but it can also lead to despair and regret, especially when there are difficulties integrating into the new country. The most common emotions among those who leave are relief and hope. Yes, it is possible to rebuild your life elsewhere, but it depends on your resilience and ability to adapt.”

Migrants and refugees trying to travel to the U.S. have found that door closed. Roberto Belgarde, 27, a psychology student, applied for the U.S. humanitarian parole program in July 2023. The eldest of four children, he tells Truthdig he had been putting himself and his dreams on the back burner in order to take care of his younger siblings. In February 2024, he was still waiting to hear about his application when attacks in Port-au-Prince forced him to interrupt his studies and flee his home in the capital, to Jeremie, in the west of the country.

When the humanitarian parole program was suspended for Haitians and others in June, he felt like his only hope to leave had been shattered. “Before that, I could see myself somewhere else, resuming my studies and starting to live a normal life again,” he says. “But when I learned that everything was coming to an end, it was as though all my plans for the future were falling apart.”

Other young people don’t migrate because of the risks involved. There are groups that organize migration trips and sell them as paths to hope. However, many journeys end with border guards stopping migrants or migrants being deported. Extortion by authorities, robbery and kidnapping are also common, especially along the route through Central America and Mexico to the U.S. Other journeys turn out to be scams, as Mathé experienced.

Limited relief abroad

Those who do manage to migrate face challenges of their own. Patrick Eliassaint, 34, originally from Lascahobas in the center of the country, fled Haiti amid violence. “When I left, it was a relief. But it was also heartbreaking. I left my family, friends and my 1-year-old son behind,” he says.

In the United States, Eliassaint tells Truthdig he initially managed to build a professional and social life within the local Haitian community. But this all collapsed in June, when the parole program ended. 

“Many of my friends lost their jobs or lived in fear of deportation. I was constantly on edge,” he says, describing the stress and anxiety he felt, and how he was eventually forced to return to Haiti out of fear of deportation.

Stéphania Vanessa Marcelin, on the other hand, is now living in Chile. She had to leave Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake killed an estimated 220,000 people across the country. Having lost loved ones, facing violence and unable to continue her studies, she relocated to Chile via the Dominican Republic. Migration, she tells Truthdig, opened up new professional opportunities for her but did not free her from difficulties.

She describes a dual challenge of trying to adapt to a new culture, while also wanting to preserve her roots. “Leaving the country is not just a physical departure, it’s an identity crisis,” she says. Far from her homeland, she feels the loss of connection with Haiti. Memories fade, places change and even returning would be complicated. “Once you leave, you remain a migrant for life,” she adds.

Haitians in Chile have created their own communities, but nostalgia and cultural clashes can lead to constant inner conflict, Marcelin says.

Over the past year, deportations of Haitians have increased in many of the countries where they’ve found refuge. Since January 2025, more than 143,000 Haitian migrants have been deported from the Dominican Republic. In the United States, 520,000 Haitian migrants and refugees are now at risk of deportation following the September termination of their temporary protected status.

And yet, despite everything, Haitian youth continue to dream and hope. They are clear that they need safety when migrating, and safety and full rights at home so that ultimately, they don’t have to flee.