REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN

REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
Paix-Travail-Patrie
Peace-Work-Fatherland
UNIVERSITE DE BAMENDA
THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA

COURSE TITLE: POPULATION GEOGRAPHY (GPLA2202)

ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRATION IS INCREASINGLY A

CONTEMPORARY PROBLEM. DISCUSS.

NAMES OF STUDENTS
1. ETOANDANG BLECK EKAABA: UBa21S1057
2. LOWEH JENICE INGRID NYUYKONGHE: UBa21S1058
3. ELNA LEINYUY: UBa21S1056
4. KORT LEONARD NFOR : UBa21S1426
5. BUTEH PROSPER SONBET: UBa18S0311
6. GERMAIN ACHIANGAH FOMBIN: UBa21S1050
7. NDATENUH JOVIAL FENGWI: UBa21S1059
8. AFAH DIAN SUNDE : UBa21S1055
9. TUME SHIRLEY LEINYUY: UBa21S1054
10. TAKUETE POWA DARIUS: UBa21A0402

2021/2022
ACADEMIC YEAR
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION.
Migration is the movement of people over some distance or from one place to another. There
are many reasons why people move from one place to another to settle such as wars, famine,
availability of medical resources, availability of natural resources, climatic conditions etc.
However many people move from one place to another due to environmental changes directly
created or amplified by climate change. Also people move due to future degradation of lands
used for agriculture and farming, disruption of fragile ecosystems and the depletion of precious
natural resources like water. This type of migration is called environmental migration since it is
due to environmental changes.
Definition of terms
-Environmental migration: It is the movement of people from their region or area of origin due
to sudden or long term changes in their local environmental conditions.
Some of these changes in environmental conditions that compromise the wellbeing or
livelihood of people causing them to move include;
 Drought: Which is a period of drier than normal conditions that result in water related
problems, this period of dryness reduces food product hence food crisis which could
lead to famine which forces people to move out of such areas. For example Between
July 2011 and mid-2012, a severe drought affected the entire East African region. The
drought caused a severe food crisis across Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya that
threatened the livelihood of 9.5 million people.Many refugees from southern Somalia
fled to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where crowded, unsanitary conditions together
with severe malnutrition led to a large number of deaths. Other countries in East Africa,
including Sudan, South Sudan and parts of Uganda, were also affected by a food crisis
that period. Clashes between herders, fishermen & farmers over dwindling water
resources in Cameroon’s Far North forced 30,000+ people to flee to Chad.
 Desertification: A type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region
becomes increasingly dry typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and
wild life consequently causing people to leave. For example Lake Chad, located in the
Sahel region, has been hit particularly hard by this phenomenon. The cause of the lake
drying up is due to irrigation withdrawal and the annual rainfall dropping. The lake has
shrunk by over 90% since 1987, displacing millions of inhabitants. Recent efforts have
managed to make some progress toward its restoration, but it is still considered to be at
risk of disappearing entirely.Since July 2015, more than 71,000 people fled Nigeria and
North Cameroon towards the lake's shores. As a consequence of the current extremely
low water levels, violence increases significantly in the villages located on the lake's
 shores, so that the populations are progressively leaving them.The 30 million people
living in the Lake Chad region compete over water, and the drying up of the lake could
lead to migration and conflicts, according to FAO. Fish production has recorded a 60
percent decline, while pasturelands have been degraded, resulting in a shortage of
animal feed, livestock and biodiversity.
 Sea level rise: which can cause destructive erosion, wetland flooding, agricultural soil
contamination with salt and lost habitat for fish, birds and plants. During the month of
August 2020, torrential rains fell in the Far North Region with an important peak on 31
August 2020, causing floods and substantial damage, such as the collapse of a bridge in
the city of Maroua, and affecting the Logone and Chari, Mayo-Sava, Mayo Danay, and
Mayo-Kani Divisions. On 11 and 12 September 2020, intense and continuous rains
poured in Mayo Danay and Mayo Kani divisions with an unprecedented level of rainfall
ranging between 40mm and 85mm. According to the data collected by the local Red
Cross committees in the concerned divisions, more than 26,402 people were affected by
this event and lost their possessions and/or houses Flooding occurs regularly during
Cameroon's April to October rainy season, with the heaviest rains typically occurring in
the South during August and September. Floods often have a significant impact in
coastal areas and the southern region, and can cause serious travel disruption and
infrastructural damage causing people to move out of such areas when the season
approaches
 Disruption of seasonal weather patterns such as monsoons.
 Contemporary problem: A contemporary problem refers to a problem that is currently
affecting people or places and that is unresolved.

Types of environmental migration

1. Environmental emergency migration;

It is the temporary movement of people due to an environmental disaster or sudden
environmental event for example people are forced to move due to a hurricane,
earthquake or lake outburst as the case of the Lake Nyos Disaster in 1986. We know
there is no disaster if there is a hazard without a vulnerable population. This population
could either be people or animals. Take for instance the Lake Nyos tragic event which
significantly impacted the population living in the area which was affected. This disaster
killed over 1700 people and about a thousand cattle. About 4000 people evacuated the
area and ran to this camp situated about 25Km from the lake which was temporarily
their new home. Survivors said after the incident, the government promised assisting
them with new houses and aid to do farming but since then, they have been
 abandoned. This caused a maturity of them to evacuate the place and wondered around
in search of survival means
2. Environmentally forced migration:
This is the movement of people due to deteriorating environmental conditions for
example someone forced to move due to slow deterioration in their environment such
as deforestation. Dating from 1986, the rate of deforestation significantly increased in
the humid forest zone of Cameroon. This effected to an increase in food crop
production and diversity as many people left the urban areas back to the rural areas to
farm as deforestation created more farming space. For instance, deforestation along the
banks of River Sanaga.

3. Environmentally induced migration;

This is when people choose to move to avoid future problems. Though there is no clear
or specific definition of environmentally induced migration, the idea is gaining attention
as social scientist attempt to conceptualize the social effects of climate change and
other factors. For instance migration constitute important dimensions in Ghana as a
result of the climate change. The Northern regions and part of the Volta region have
substantial numbers of their population moving to the wetter south and urban areas
due to increasing weather extremes in this places. Based on the article “Environmental
migrants need better human rights protection”, a protection gap is highlighted for
people forced to migrate due to climate change. The authors focus on 5 countries highly
affected by the impact of climate change (Ghana inclusive) none of which currently offer
full legal protection to migrants. This makes the migrants landless and have no
alternative than to move to nearby villages or cities further afield.
4. Pressured environmental migration:
This type of migration happens when an event is predicted prior to when it will be
imperative for the inhabitants to leave. Such events could be desertification, prolonged
drought etc.
The movement of people due to environmental conditions has effects on the departure
location and the area where the people will move to. These effects will be dis cussed in
chapter two.

TYPES OF ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRATION.

There are many types of environmental migration and in this section we going to discuss some
of them which are relevant to our study which includes;

1. Internal Migration
Internal migration is the movement of people between usual residences within
national boundaries of their states or country usually for economic reasons. The
population’s movement seeking places to live within national borders have
shaped the ethno-spatial configuration of Cameroon. Therefore, some cities
owe their creation to these migrations such as Douala, Bamenda and
Foumban. Beyond the settlement process and the installation of a large number
of groups of people in pre-colonial Cameroon, internal migration continued in recent
times. Internal migration, observed in recent times, is linked to two main factors; Boko
Haram crisis in the Far North region and Anglophone crisis in the North West and
South West regions of Cameroon.

2. External Migration

External migration involves leaving one country to live in another. Some of the main
reasons for external migration are; economic migration where people move to find work
or follow a particular career path, social migration where people move somewhere
for a better quality of life or to be closer to family or friends. External migration is also an
age-old phenomenon, but the most dramatic example of it took place in modern times.
In the Great Atlantic Migration, many millions of people left Europe for North America.
Between 1820 and 1980 about 37 million Europeans emigrated to the United States.
The Great Atlantic Migration was perhaps the most extensive movement of people in
history.

3. Emigration

This is the departure from a place of abode, natural home, or country for life or
residence elsewhere. For example If you live in Cameroon and you move to the
United States and try to set up permanent citizenship. People who live their country and
settle in another country are said to have emigrated from their country and immigrated
to the other country.

4. Immigration

Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which

they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as
permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Someone who moves into a country and
tries to settle in it is called an immigrant. In recent times, most Cameroonians have
migrated to European countries and have become immigrants in those foreign nations
in anticipation to obtain a permanent citizenship in those nations.

5. Remigration
Remigration, or re-immigration, sometimes euphemized as "repatriation", is a far- right
political concept referring to the forced or promoted return of non-ethnically European
immigrants, often including their descendants, back to their place of racial origin
regardless of citizenship status.

6. Return Migration

Returning migrants are persons returning to their country of citizenship after having
been international migrants (whether short-term or long- term) in another country and
who are intending to stay in their own country for at least a year. In addition to labor
migrants, other return migrants include those who moved from their home locations
following a period of civil conflict, religious or cultural persecution, or economic
depression, and who seek to return after those conditions that prompted them to leave
have improved

7. Seasonal Migration

Seasonal human migration is the movement of people from one place or another on a
seasonal basis. It occurs most commonly due to seasonal shifts in demand for
labor. It includes migrations such as moving sheep or cattle to higher elevations during
summer to escape the heat and find more forage. Shortage of farmland, debt, lack of
viable non-farm activities locally, and the desire to earn additional income are the major
reasons for seasonal migration of labor. An example is the migration of various whale
species from their summer habitat in Arctic or Antarctic waters to their wintertime
breeding grounds in tropical waters near the equator. Some bird species also migrate
from their summer home in the Arctic to spend winter at warmer latitudes.

The movement of people due to environmental conditions has effects on the departure
location and the area where the people will move to. These effects will be discussed in detail in
cha
CHAPTER 2
HOW ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRATION IS INCREASINGLY A CONTEMPORARY PROBLEM
A) WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRATION

Environmental change and disasters have always been major drivers of migration.
However, climate change predictions for the 21st century indicate that even more people are
expected to be on the move as extreme weather-related events, such as floods, droughts and
storms become more frequent and intense (IPCC, 2014), and changes in precipitation and
temperature patterns impact livelihoods and human security.
 “Environmental migrants are persons or groups of persons who, predominantly for reasons
of sudden or progressive change in the environmental condition that adversely affects their
lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their habitual homes, or choose to do so, either
temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad”.
Environmental migrants are people who are forced to leave their home region due to sudden or
long-term changes to their local or regional environment. These changes compromise their
well-being or livelihood, and include increased drought, desertification, sea level rise, and
disruption of seasonal weather patterns. Though there is no uniform, clear-cut definition of
environmental migration, the idea is gaining attention as policy-makers and environmental and
social scientists attempt to conceptualize the potential social effects of climate change and
other environmental degradation, such a deforestation or overexploitation.
A refugee is someone who has left their home and does not have a new home to go to.
Often refugees do not carry many possessions with them and do not have a clear idea of where
they may finally settle. Climate refugee or environmental refugee are terms frequently used on
purpose in the media and by activists to draw attention on the situation and needs of those
uprooted because of disasters, climate change and environmental degradation. While their
situations and needs can be similar to those of refugees, such as crossing a border after a
disaster and needing protection and assistance, people moving for environmental reasons, do
not fall squarely within any one particular category provided by the existing international legal
framework. Terms such as "climate change refugee" or "environmental refugee" have thus no
legal basis in international refugee law.

B. CAUSES OF ENVIRONMENT MIGRATION:

There are several global environmental changes which may cause human migration.
Climate change is of course a major factor. Sea level rise, changes in storm or cyclone
frequency, changes in rainfall patterns, forest fires, and increase in temperature and
ocean acidification may result in loss of homes or livelihoods. Apart from climate
change, land degradation, in the form of loss of nutrients, soil erosion, Pollution and
salinization can also drive changes that lead to migration. Similarly, degradation of
coastal and marine ecosystems, as a result of fishing as well as agricultural and urban
pollution can impact livelihoods and prompt movements.
People migrate for many different reasons. These reasons can be classified as economic, social,
political, demographic or environmental:
1) Economic causes: moving to find work or follow a particular career path, which includes
employment opportunities, income and the price of living.
 2) Social causes: moving somewhere for a better quality of life or to be closer to family or
friends, which includes the search for educational opportunities or obligations to kin,
such as marriage or inheritance practices.

3) Political causes : moving to escape political persecution or war, which includes

discrimination or persecution, conflict, levels of security and policy incentives, for
example a change in land ownership policy.

4) Demographic causes, which includes population density and structure and risk of
disease.

5) Environmental causes of migration include natural disasters such as flooding

B) EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRATION ON THE HOST AREA OR COUNTRY

Some problems faced by environmental migrants include

I) Overcrowding of people due to rural-urban migration which has put pressure on
existing social and physical infrastructural in the urban areas
II) Environmental migration ultimately leads to unplanned growth of urban settlement
and formation of slums shanty colonies
III) Apart from this over exploitation of natural resources, cities are facing the acute
problem of depletion of ground water, air pollution, disposal of sewage and
management of solid waste.

CHAPTER 3

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MIGRATION

Here, we shall discuss the advantages and disadvantages of migration to the host country, as well
as advantages and disadvantages of migration to the country of origin of the migrants.

3.1 Advantages to the host country

 Increases economic growth

There are economic benefits of migration to the host country in terms of low-skilled laborers.
In some cases, it can even be said that immigrants are a vital part of the cultural fabric of
many countries.
 Can benefit locations where the majority of the population is old
When an economy begins to stagnate, fewer young people move into the area. This has a
significant detrimental impact on services like healthcare and education that rely on a stable
population. One solution is for migrants to migrate from their country of origin to the host
 country. As they are younger, they bring with them new ideas and skills that can help
invigorate the economy.
 Additional sources of tax for the host country
Some countries are experiencing a demographic crisis as the number of people in the country
shrinks and the number of people able to work shrinks. However, this population decline can
be used to their advantage by accepting immigrants from other countries. The pension gap
can be filled by the contributions of new young workers and they also pay taxes.
 New innovations and ideas
Researchers who have studied immigrants in the United States say that their presence has
resulted in a positive impact on society. They contribute to economic growth and make up for
some of the skills that the native-born population lacks. Immigrants are also thought to be
bringing new ideas and innovations, which is important since so many of today’s jobs require
specialized knowledge. Many companies instead of hiring American workers would prefer to
hire foreign-born individuals because they can be hired more quickly and offer more value
than their local counterparts.

3.2 Disadvantages of Migration to host country

Following are a few advantages of Migration for host country:

 Depression of wages

One of the major disadvantages to migration can be too much competition for jobs. In some
cases, those who migrate may need to take on a lower paying job than they had in their homeland
to maintain their standard of living. Additionally, with more people migrating, there is an
increased cost of goods and services, causing wages to decrease. This is true also when
immigrants have a higher education level and are willing to work for less pay.
 Companies may neglect employee benefit programs

With globalization and economic pressure on wages, more workers have been willing to move
from their countries of origin. Yet, this has led to a decline in worker productivity and
development as companies can get away with paying “low” wages because they are able to save
money by using migrant workers.
 Can lead to exploitation

Migration can be dangerous and can have a negative impact on the economy. While some
migrants are able to find a decent job and earn a living for themselves, others may end up being
exploited in the process. It is important for migrants to protect their rights because they may be
taken advantage of due to language barriers or by placing their trust in people who do not want
them to succeed.
 Strain on public services

Increased population can put pressure on public services. The more people there are, the more
towns and cities have to build as well as new residential areas, schools and hospitals to
accommodate them. This creates a strain on the government and its budget.
 Displacement of jobs
 The number of people immigrating into a country can have economic and social implications. If
unending numbers of people are migrating into an area, then it can have detrimental
consequences like the displacement of jobs, unemployment and limited access to resources.
There are also drawbacks as well such as increased rates of crimes, health risks and climate
change.
 Takes Increased crime rates

Organized crime and people trafficking can be facilitated by migration of people. The ease of
movement can make it easy for organized criminals to transport drugs, weapons, and other illicit
goods across borders.

3.3 Advantages of Migration to the country of origin

The following are a few advantages of Migration for country of origin:

 Developing countries benefit from remittances

Every day, migrants send money to their family members in developing countries. These
remittances are an important part of the economy in such countries and can be used for
investment in infrastructure, healthcare, education and security.
 Reduction of unemployment
Migrating can have a positive impact on the country of origin. It can increase their economic
stability, reduce unemployment, and improve their workforce’s productivity. In addition to
that, young migrants can be seen as a source of innovation and talent.
 Migrants bring back skills, contacts and other useful tools
Migration not only leads to social and economic benefits for host countries, but for countries
of origin as well. Millions of migrants left their home countries and settled in another
country, mostly a Western one. They usually return with savings, useful skills and contacts
which help to drive economic growth, boost competitiveness and increase innovation for
their country of origin.

3.4 Disadvantages of Migration to Country of Origin

The following are a few disadvantages of migration for country of origin:

 Loss of financial and informational wealth
When countries are experiencing high levels of migration, the young population of that
country (country of origin) will not be able to provide their previous level of economic
contributions. This can result in a significant loss of wealth to the country as a whole.
 Loss of skilled labour
One of the negative impacts that migration has is the loss of qualified human resources in the
countries of origin. For example, when doctors migrate, there is a shortage of physicians in
the country they leave. With high levels of depression, unemployment, and other health risks,
these people are less likely to return to their home countries.
 Negative effect on children
When people migrate, they usually leave family members behind. This can lead to children
growing up without a wider family circle that provides emotional and material support. The
social problems that migrants experience in their destination country could also have a
 negative impact on the country of origin, leaving orphans or vulnerable children without
parents.

CONCLUSION

Though environmental migration is a contemporary problem to today’s world, Migrating can be

a beneficial option for many people. However, it’s important to evaluate the pros and cons of
the decision before you migrate. Besides economic reasons, there are many reasons why people
want to migrate. Sometimes, it is because their values are different from their previous
environment or the need to move for diplomatic or political reasons. In conclusion, migration is
a complex issue with many different factors. The most important thing that we can do is to
understand the advantages and disadvantages of migration as well as our own reasons for
moving.

References
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Migration. Paper presented at the United Nations International Symposium on
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  A Masters thesis on “Disaster risk in the lake Nyos area, Cameroon” by Mary Witucki
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Session 1.

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