The brain drain and freedom of movement

Abstract

　　This paper aims to examine problems regarding the circumstances under which developing countries attempt to justify temporary restrictions on the right of health care workers to leave, in their efforts to address the problem of brain drain. It proceeds by examining the rationale behind political obligations, which health care workers owe to their fellow citizens. In the context of brain drain, both proponents of associative duty, who defend political obligations by appealing to analogy, and the fair play theory, which considers the voluntary enjoyment of benefits as a basis for political obligations, fail to derive political obligations. I argue, in invoking the framework of public health ethics, that the natural duty of justice, to the effect that it is required to contribute to the maintenance and creation of fundamental human rights when it can be carried out without too many burdens, is more likely to justify the political obligations imposed on health care workers. However, the natural duty of justice may also be used to warrant that citizens living in developed countries bear burdensome obligations.