# What's so bad about Cameroon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 7, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739 "2012-08-07T15:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/1 "2012-08-07T15:24:00Z")
I see that so far SEVEN atheletes from Cameroon have disappeared in London. See [The Sun](http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4475845/Seven-Cameroon-athletes-flee-Olympic-base.html) for example. Is there something about Cameroon that makes it much worse than other impoverished African states? Or is there something about Cameroonian culture that makes defection more likely? Or is this probably just chance and they could as easily have been Angolan or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/2 "2012-08-07T15:58:38Z")
(The real) **even sven** was a Peace Corps worker in Cameroon for years. I’m posting this in hopes a vanity search will bring up this thread for “straight from the horse’s mouth” comments. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/3 "2012-08-07T23:20:00Z")
This is a [blogger](http://timhartmancameroon.blogspot.com/2008/03/whats-wrong-with-cameroon-reading.html), part 1 of a 4 part post on what is wrong with Cameroon, he was in the Peace Corps. And I do remember Even Sven posting on being in Cameroon. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/4 "2012-08-07T23:32:44Z")
I think **Even Sven** knows something about Cameroon. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/5 "2012-08-09T04:28:10Z")
If only we had someone on this board who knew about Cameroon. Possibly from having volunteered there, if such a thing is even imaginable. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/6 "2012-08-09T04:35:52Z")
I understand **even sven** once danced on the sand in Cameroon, just like that river twisting through the dusty land. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/7 "2012-08-09T05:21:02Z")
As African countries go, Cameroon is probably around the middle of the pack. (I’ve been there, but it was a long time ago.) There are much worse countries on the continent. I think it’s just a matter of chance. The fact that it was seven athletes was probably because it was easier to make the decision if your friends are going along too. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/8 "2012-08-09T05:38:41Z")
Also note that the English-speaking minority in Cameroon are generally a lot less happy with the long-lived autocratic government than the Francophone majority. Fleeing to London probably looks very appealing to English-speakers who feel marginalized in their own country, even if the conditions there aren’t too bad by African standards at large. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/9 "2012-08-09T05:51:21Z")
I’m not sure if this is true or not, but I think **even sven** volunteered for some sort of corporation in Cameroon. Maybe the peaceful type? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/10 "2012-08-09T07:14:37Z")
I read through the thread and didn’t see of any mention of her, so forgive me if I just missed it, but I think **even sven** could contribute to a discussion on Cameroon. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/11 "2012-08-09T07:40:09Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’ve been there, but it was a long time ago. Who do you think you are - **even sven**? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/12 "2012-08-09T07:56:18Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I’m not sure if this is true or not, but I think **even sven** volunteered for some sort of corporation in Cameroon. Maybe the peaceful type? I heard she was there to put down a zombie attack, blasting many a corpse into pieces. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/13 "2012-08-09T10:01:42Z")
**ENOUGH!** The **even sven** jokes have now passed their prime. Knock it off. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/14 "2012-08-09T14:00:50Z")
Well for one thing, I’m confused as to how 31% of the population could be Highlanders, because I was under the impression that there could be only one. The wikipedia page talks about an authoritarian President who has ruled for 30 years, alienated provinces talking secession and large numbers of subsistence farmers living in poverty. Doesn’t sound like a recipe for happiness. Cameroon is listed at 134 out of 183 on the list of least corrupt nations, so it’s got a lot of problems on that front. “Human rights organisations accuse police and military forces of mistreating and even torturing criminal suspects, ethnic minorities, homosexuals, and political activists. Prisons are overcrowded with little access to adequate food and medical facilities and prisons run by traditional rulers in the north are charged with holding political opponents at the behest of the government” Also doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. Life expectancy of 54.7 years. Not good at all. Per capita income of $1,230. Fills my definition of “Shit Hole”… ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/15 "2012-08-09T15:13:36Z")
[Looks like it’s jobs, and looks like it’s happened before.](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/seven-cameroonian-athletes-disappear-search-jobs-expected-culprit-115522853--oly.html) Although distaste for jackbooted authority may also have had something to do with it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/16 "2012-08-09T16:54:03Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Cameroon is listed at 134 out of 183 on the list of least corrupt nations… Plus, they bribed a couple of other nations to move down to that spot. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/17 "2012-08-09T17:13:17Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > I’m not sure if this is true or not, but I think **even sven** volunteered for some sort of corporation in Cameroon. Maybe the peaceful type? Nitpick: the Peace Corps is an [independent federal agency](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/2501-1), not a corporation. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/18 "2012-08-09T19:04:19Z")
It’s easy enough to understand why someone from Cameroon would want to move to England, or to practically any other modern Western nation, if he had the chance. I just don’t understand why there’d be a rash of “defections” right this second. Cameroon isn’t East Berlin, and there’s no wall holding people in. Presumably, Cameroonians with resources have ALWAYS had the ability to emigrate, and many have. Surely, a Cameroonian soccer or track star has had numerous opportunities to move to Europe or America before this week. It’s not like the old days when touring Russian ballerinas or Cuban athletes had to sneak away and claim asylum at foreign embassies! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/19 "2012-08-09T19:39:15Z")
Why pay for an extra plane ticket? It’s not as though Cameroon is a wealthy country (except relative to most of sub-Saharan Africa). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739/20 "2012-08-09T21:21:03Z")
If you want to live in Britain, and plenty of people from poor countries do, wouldn’t it make sense if you were in Britain to just not go home, rather than to go home and try to scrape up enough money and a tourist visa for another visit? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-cameroon/630739.md?page=2)