What is Skills Visa

Focusing on the subject of brain drain/brain gain in South Africa, the authors argue that as refugees flee their home countries, they possess, or have the opportunity to acquire, skills and knowledge necessary for individual and collective development through higher education. Consequently, such refugees may be seen to possess capabilities necessary for decent economic and social mobility in the host country. On the contrary, to their home country, they are viewed as lost assets as they leave with skills and knowledge. Drawing on the discourse of brain drain/brain gain, the argument in this chapter moves beyond focusing on the individuals as economic assets to focus on other valued dimensions as a result of higher education. The authors adopt the human development informed capability approach which focuses on the freedoms and opportunities that individuals have to pursue the lives they have reason to value.