19 June 2008
Yaounde — Highly qualified Cameroonian graduates are leaving for Europe and North Africa in unprecedented numbers, and unlike in the past no longer feel compelled to return, starving the professional classes of qualified workers, according to experts.
"We have shifted from having a spirit of national solidarity to one of individualism," said a university student. "It used to be inconceivable that a student would leave for abroad and not return to apply their skills to serve their country, but that is no longer the case."
As many as 83 percent of 15-35 year olds said they planned to leave the country in a 2007 study by the non-governmental organisation, Association for the Fight against Illegal Immigration, (ALCEC), which works in the capital, Yaoundé.
Educated driven to leave
According to public sector workers and emigration experts, it is the most educated who leave. "Of the 75 students in my year at medical school about fifty went abroad to pursue their studies and specialise, and none of them then returned. They are all practicing in Europe or America now," a doctor at the ministry of health in Yaoundé, who asked to go unnamed, told IRIN.
Some 42 percent of Cameroonian immigrants identified in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries were considered to be "highly qualified." This compares to just 23 percent of Senegalese emigrants in a 2004 study.
And the number of students leaving Cameroon continues to rise - in France alone student numbers increased by 40 percent in eight years, according to Jacques Nkene, professor of international relations at Yaoundé II university.
Public services are suffering as a result. In one sector alone - the medical profession - four-fifths of the country's 5,000 qualified physicians have emigrated to find work abroad, leaving behind just one doctor for every 30,000 inhabitants in the country, according to the National Order of Physicians.
Push factors
Cameroonian students leave for the simple reason that they cannot find stable paid work upon graduating, according to Nkene. "Cameroonian universities produce up to 5,000 graduates per year and many of them will be unable to find employment commensurate with their training," he pointed out.
The Cameroonian economy has been unstable for years - the government faced bankruptcy in 1993 and the devaluation of its currency, the West African CFA in 1994, leading to empty state coffers. This prompted the government to slash the salaries of public sector workers by as much as 70 percent.
According to Nkene, the average public sector worker salary at US$165 a month is not enough to live on.
The public sector is also defined by clientelism and corruption, said Paul, a student at Yaoundé II university, automatically barring many from the job market whether qualified or not. "People leave Cameroon because they hope that elsewhere recruitment procedures will be fairer."
Another student, Francis, 29, agrees. "Here there is small elite that has been in power for over 20 years and it blocks everything... I wanted to become a policeman but here if you have no money or connections, your application will be rejected." He became a scooter-taxi driver instead.
Taking risks
The vast majority of these emigrants end up in Europe or North Africa according to Emile Bomba who works at ALCEC. The principal route is from Cameroon through Chad and Libya ending up in Italy or France, while the second routes starts in Cameroon going through Nigeria and Niger through to Algeria, Morocco and Libya.
And Cameroonians are employing increasingly risky measures to get away. Of those interviewed by ALCEC, 17 percent said they were willing to attempt illegal crossings if their visas were rejected.
Destination governments do their best to warn youths, using simple tactics. An awareness raising campaign run by the European Union imparted the simple message, "Go to Europe prepared" on posters throughout the capital. While more and more NGOs are sprouting up to try to address the problem.
Addressing the problem
For the staff at ALCEC it's crucial to dissuade students from considering the journey at all. They work with students' parents and teachers to try to convince them to stay. And they have a receptive audience - 68 percent of interviewees told ALCEC they would prefer to find a well-paid job in Cameroon than spend their savings travelling abroad.
But too often they feel they have no choice.
"There is an eternal dilemma for youths," said Bomba. "You do not want to leave - but what else does the government propose?" Until the economic situation shows better prospects, the exodus will continue, he said.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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I definitely agree with you. The situation in the country is to be described as "survival of the fittest" or is this right? no, rather, "survival of the connected" goes better. Because if its a matter of fittest, then Us all in the diaspora should be home now, working and enjoying the benefits of citizenship. No body wants to be out here, but at the same time, nobody wants to be unemployed.I graduaded with a degree but got no job to do. then the government launched a professional degree in tourism and hotel management. i sat for the entrance examination. got it,went through the training course with the hope that the state would employ us after that.at the end of it, nothing, spent close to two years of unemployment moving up and town from one company to another with application files. Well, it was a waste of time and energy. the private sector didn't need me because i am not experienced, educated and might demand a higher pay package. what better choice did i have than seek for greener pasture elsewhere.
As a victim of the Cameroonian situation, i will say that i am not sure i have the desire to come back and settle in Cameroon after my studies abraod. I personally had no motivation to leave Cameroon upon graduation. Cameroon forced me out. I was unemployed for two years after graduation and that made me sick of everything.
May be you can say i was lazy and didn't try hard, it could be true, buat what is trying hard? Sleeping on a sofa in an aunt's house or selling DVDS in Douala to make ends meet? Or better still making it at the written part of cylcle A of the Administartion and Finance Divion of Enam for two copnsecutives years and failing at the orals? Or may be not trying hard was also passing IRIC the same years and running up and down trying get an audience to ask for help form a minister who promises and does nothing at the end?
Go back home and stay at home while my siblings go to school, and keep asking money from my retired dad. Tha is something a right thinking mind can't bear, so travelling is the only option and i took it. Here i study, but can i go back to live in Cameroon when i am not sure i will get a job? NO i will not. I will try to be a national of a welcoming country that can give me the chances Cameroon is closing on me and miliion others.
Good we are now having statistics for such topics, though these are to be verified. I have two queries: 1. What has the government said about it? You should have interviewed decision makers who are working on this issue from government side 2. Cameroon does not use the West African CFA, but the Central African. Let us know about those who however return.
The Cameroonian government is doing nothing to help the youths of the country. They don't encourage anyone. Even education is a problem in Cameroon. People can't study at national universities and they can't even be admitted. Consequently, they are tempted to study out of the country. There's NO WAY these same youths will be back to Cameroon to work for a government which doesn't recognise the effort they've put in after spending a lot of moeny abroad. The government doesn't creat jobs and the country is suffering from a malalocation of natural resources and nepotism. Things ain't evenly distributed. You get a job is your relative is better placed somewhere on the ADMINISTRATIVE LADDER. Competitive entrance examinations in Cameroon are based on a "MAN KNOW MAN" principle. You don't need to be intelligent. My sister passed the entrance examination into the school of Medicine but the Head of Human Resources or Director at the ministry sat on that fill just to passed the relative who didn't deserve to pass. What a pity! What do u expect the youth to do? How many Directors, Ministers and other top ranking officials in Cameroon deserve to be where they are?