explains Barry Chevannes, Dean of the University of the West Indies’ Faculty of Social Sciences. (The Associated Press 10/4/99) One statistic to show how prevalent violence has become, is that among a population of just over 2 million, 953 people were murdered in 1998. This could be because, the economy has been shrinking, and the population of young people has been growing, which translates into fewer jobs for young people, which then leads to crime and violence.
It is mostly the middle class of Jamaica that is leaving, the ones without enough money to protect themselves, but with enough money to move. Unfortunately, these are the people Jamaica really needs; they are the people with MBAs, accountants, engineers, and other professionals. "They don’t want to raise their kids in this kind of environment," says Dawn Ritch, a columnists for Kingston’s Gleaner newspaper. (TAP 4/13/00) Jamaicans are, however, very patriotic, and many who leave say they would like to come back in the future. Ralston Smith, an aid to the Prime Minister, is not sure more people are leaving." Jamaicans are a migratory people and can be found from Australia to Europe, and I don’t know if any significant migration is taking place," says Smith.
