Caribbean Brain Drain Part I

Well-educated and middle- to upper-class citizens are fleeing their Caribbean homes. Crime, lack of opportunities, and western nations' active recruitment of the best and brightest are the main reasons cited. As the "professional class" shrinks, the social conditions that result in increased crime worsen. Will it ever end?

Brain drain takes heavy toll on poor countries

As reported in Hot Calaloo, Caribbean countries are among the worst affected. A recent World Bank study reveals that the countries of the Caribbean, as well as other developing countries across the globe, are losing large proportions of their college educated workers to wealthy democracies.

The study, International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain, was based on census and survey data from 30 organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. It traced a massive exodus of professionals from some of the worlds most vulnerable low- income countries. For example, eight out of ten Haitians and Jamaicans with college degrees live outside of their respective countries. In Guyana, 89 per cent of the skilled workforce has left the country, the study found.

Larger countries like China and India, show only 3 to 5 per cent of graduates are abroad. Brazil, India, Indonesia, and the former Soviet Union countries also have low migration rates among the educated.