Overseas Pakistanis face property grab back home

ISLAMABAD: Almost 10 million overseas Pakistanis, who contribute over $18.45 billion to the national economy, are plagued by problems such as land grabbing on properties back home and a general lack of support from the country’s diplomatic missions abroad, a document submitted by a Senate panel stated on Wednesday.

The report, prepared by the Senate’s Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, pointed out that overseas Pakistanis faced “corrupt practices at all levels” in the country and exploitation and abuse at the hands of immigration officials, fake visa agents, job promoters and human traffickers alike. It also criticized Pakistani missions abroad for non-cooperation with Pakistanis living abroad.

The report was presented by the panel’s convener Lieutenant General (retd) Abdul Qayum. The most common problem, the report said, faced by Overseas Pakistanis was the seizure of their properties in Pakistan by criminal elements.

The hardships of Overseas Pakistanis “start the day they are exposed to rigours of prevalent recruitment and selection procedure”, it said.

The report says: “Properties of overseas Pakistanis are encroached (upon in Pakistan) and no department extends the desired help, while court cases take (a) long (time to settle) and cannot be pursued, while overseas Pakistanis reside abroad.”



In the backdrop of mounting complaints by Pakistanis abroad about Pakistani diplomats’ disinterest in redressing their grievances, the report noted that favouritism and political appointments at Pakistani embassies seriously compromised their integrity and functioning on merit.

“Performance of diplomatic missions abroad varies according to personalities of our ambassadors/heads of missions and embassy staff concerned — political appointees selected for embassies based on affiliations and disregarding criteria of merit only look after their self interest. They also lack the vision and capacity to effectively address problems of overseas Pakistanis.”

The document stated that Pakistanis abroad also faced problem on NADRA-related issues and other official procedures, including renewal of passports and issuance of visas.

The report urged the federal government to direct the respective ministries of overseas Pakistanis, human resource development, interior and foreign affairs to tackle the following issues: Illegal human trafficking by agents, exploitation by fake recruiting agencies for issuance of visas, ignorance of host country laws by recruited workers while signing agreements, exploitation of workers by employers in host countries, including delayed and non-payment of salaries and substandard working conditions, problems in remittances through official channels, expensive medical treatment in host countries, lengthy procedure for transportation of dead bodies from host countries, delayed payment of death compensation for deceased overseas workers’ families, discriminatory treatment to Pakistani prisoners and detainees abroad, and several other related issues.

The report also recommended that manpower export licences should be issued “only to credible Pakistanis and educated professionals,” through a transparent system.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2016.