Pandemic weighs heavy on Pakistani expats

POEPA chairman says over 200,000 overseas Pakistanis could not go abroad due to Covid-19

ISLAMABAD:

Over 200,000 expatriates could not go abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said the Pakistan Overseas Employment Promoters Association (POEPA) on Sunday.

 Addressing a news conference in the federal capital, POEPA Chairman Sarfaraz Zahoor Cheema noted that his association had completed all the formalities for sending the people abroad but the government had been indulging in blame game and was not taking steps to depart the overseas Pakistanis.

 “The expatriates are worried about their jobs due to the pandemic but the government is doing nothing to mitigate their problems,” he said.

 “Currently, the overseas Pakistanis are sending around $20 to $22 billion annually, and if, the government gives us the status of an industry, we can double the remittance in one year,” he added.

 Cheema observed that the POEPA was playing an important role in the economic revival but regretted saying the government had helped almost all the sectors in the country but neglected the overseas employment promoters.

 Underscoring the efforts of the POEPA, he remarked that the association had sent more than 10 million people to different countries and added that “0.9 million people had been sent abroad in just two years, and ironically, the government is taking credit for this”.

 He lamented that the overseas employment sector was collapsing as there was no work for the last six months and urged the authorities to extend support to help the association revive. 

 He revealed that Pakistan could not send thousands of people to Qatar due to ill-conceived policies of the government and warned that if the practice continued, the country would not be able to send manpower to Japan, Europe, Gulf, Canada and other countries.

 Cheema vowed to continue work with new determination after the pandemic and resolved to send manpower to new states along with countries where it already existed.

 He requested Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari to give POEPA the status of an industry and take into confidence the overseas Pakistanis’ community welfare attachés posted in missions abroad.

 He further asked the government to establish a desk in every mission to facilitate the workers.

 Along with Cheema, the press conference was addressed by POEPA former chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal and members of its central executive committee.