Protecting skilled Afghan women: Brain save and the politics of vulnerability

Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, Ingunn Bjørhaug, Astrid Espegren and Adèle Garnier

Global Policy, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 5-15

Abstract: Considering the Afghan evacuation of 2021 and its aftermath, this article suggests the term ‘brain save’ to characterise emerging protection discourses and practices concerning the resettlement of skilled women refugees. Resettlement has traditionally focused on women as vulnerable because of their gender. Drawing on examples of the evacuation and prospective resettlement of Afghan women professionals, the article develops the analytic concept of brain save to label these discourses and practices. Unlike ‘brain drain’, brain save challenges established politics of vulnerability and has progressive potential for resettlement as a durable solution. However, it also implies problematic prioritisation of particular resettlement candidates.

Date: 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13166

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