Internal Migration and Skilled Emigration Prevail, IOM Migration Profile of Cameroon Finds
An IOM migration profile of Cameroon released today shows that
current migration flows continue to be mostly internal from the
countryside to the cities, with increasing numbers of skilled and
unskilled Cameroonians emigrating to neighbouring countries and
beyond to Europe and to the United States.
According to the report, Cameroonian emigrants were estimated to
number 170,363 in 2007. France, with 38,530 migrants, remains a
preferred destination, followed by Gabon (30,216), Nigeria (16,980)
and the United States (12,835).
Cameroon's Ministry of External Relations estimates that up to
300,000 Cameroonians lived in the Gulf of Guinea States between
2000 and 2004, essentially because they belong to the same ethnic
groups and geographical area.
The profile notes that the majority are long-term migrants, with
40 per cent residing in their country of emigration for ten years
or more and 16 per cent for a period of between five to ten
years.
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target="" title="">Migration au Cameroun : Profil National
2009
As for remittances sent by Cameroonian migrants, they have
increased from an estimated USD 11 million in 2000, to USD 103
million in 2004 to a record high of USD 167 million in 2008, which
represents 0.8 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic
Product.
Remittances are used to pay for medical care, school fees, rent
or for the purchase of consumer goods. The report notes that these
transfers stimulate the country's economic activity by replacing
credit and other financing methods and facilitating the initiation
of projects and other income-generating activities.
Furthermore, the report finds that the increase in the transfer
of funds has led to the expansion of the banking system and the
multiplication of banks and money transfer companies, thus
generating thousands of jobs.
However, migration from Cameroon continues to contribute to the
brain drain. According to the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OSCE), 42.3 per cent of the 57,050
Cameroonians working in Europe are highly qualified.
According to the Cameroon Medical Association, 4,200 Cameroonian
doctors, mostly specialists, are working abroad. Only 800, that is
1 for 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, are left in the cities, with 1
for 40,000 to 50,000 practising in the rural areas.
The profile underlines the fact that Cameroon's political
stability and socio-economic potential remains relatively
attractive to migrants from neighbouring countries, such as the
Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.
The IOM Migration profile of Cameroon, which is funded by the
European Union, the Belgian Development Cooperation and the Swiss
Federal Office for Migration, recommends that Cameroon's new
national migration policy includes migration in its Poverty
reduction Strategy Papers and does more to harness the development
potential of its diaspora.
Similarly, more efforts need to be deployed to ensure better
coordination and coherence between various Cameroonian ministries
responsible for formulating the new Cameroonian migration policy
framework.
Finally, the report underlines that migration issues and
policies in Cameroon cannot be properly addressed because of a
persistent lack of reliable computerized data on current migration
flows and trends.
The IOM Migration Profile for Cameroon is available in French at
the IOM website:
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"http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/">http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/
For further information, please contact:
Jobst Koehler
IOM Geneva
Tel: + 41 22 717 9260
E-mail:
"mailto:jkoehler@iom.int">jkoehler@iom.int