University/Organization
Department of African Studies
Penn State University
State College, Pennsylvania

Title
Conflict Migration, and The Flight of Human Capital: The Case of The Lost Boys from Sudan Resettled in Philadelphia, and who Studied at Penn State University

Synopsis

Extant literature on conflict and the creation of streams of refugees, focuses mainly on refugee resettlement concerns, both for refugees as well as host countries, and the funding and resource provision involved. However, there is little discussion of the fact that, forced migration of refugees of conflict also amounts to the flight of human capital from the original economies of the countries of the refugees, which condition adversely affects development in those economies. This paper examines African conflicts and their accompanying refugee creation problem, especially the flight of human capital from the African economy, through the forced migration of sundry expertise from the continent.

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