Overseas Pakistanis’ plight

One can well imagine the misery of some 8,000 Pakistani expatriates stranded in Saudi Arabia for the past two months, who have gone without being paid or given food by their sponsor companies. A majority of them are bound to be from a working class background with limited means to fend for themselves in such dire straits. A Foreign Office official has informed a National Assembly panel that these workers have not been paid their dues and salaries, some for nearly six months, while work permits of many others have not been renewed. It seems it took way too long for the Pakistani embassy to jolt out of its stupor and take up the case of its citizens with the management of the companies where the workers are contracted, urging them to settle all issues relating to dues and permits.

Not much is known about what effect this exhortation had on the employer firms, but the situation on the ground remains unaltered to date. If the discussion held on the subject in parliament is anything to go by, no breakthrough has been achieved thus far in terms of addressing the workers’ woes. When pressed to tell what prospects there are of the matter being resolved anytime soon, an FO official simply chose to trot out the cliched line about there being hope. Pakistani officialdom needs to pursue such matters more vigorously to ensure that rights of overseas Pakistanis are upheld. If our coffers are fattened by the remittances these Pakistanis send after much toil and drudgery, they are well within their rights to expect their government will come to their rescue when they fall upon hard times. But sadly that does not seem to be the case. It’s not the first time our missions abroad, the Foreign Office and other relevant ministries have failed to safeguard their rights abroad. In this particular case, the torture Pakistani expatriates in Saudi Arabia have been put through must end now. The matter must be raised effectively with the Saudi government and the employers of the harried workers.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.