Migrant workers
A significant number of Pakistani workers are not regularised and they are now classified as illegal immigrants.
In an attempt to regulate and regularise the expatriate working population, the government of KSA announced an amnesty scheme under which migrant workers could get officially registered. PHOTO: AFP
Around the world there are hundreds of thousands of Pakistani citizens who are members of expatriate labour forces. The Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula are places where there are significant numbers of our nationals, with the majority working in Saudi Arabia. In an attempt to regulate and regularise the expatriate working population, the government of KSA announced an amnesty scheme under which migrant workers could get officially registered. As a result, 80,000 were regularised but there remain a significant number that are not and they are now classified as illegal immigrants and liable to be deported. Senator Sehar Khan has alleged that the government failed to address the issue with sufficient seriousness, and contrasted the Pakistani response under the amnesty to that of India, which she said ‘aggressively pursued the cases of its citizens’ and got the maximum benefit from the window of opportunity afforded by the amnesty.
That the amnesty would be of direct benefit to us, there is no doubt. The remittances that migrant workers send back to Pakistan are substantial, and one of the elements that keep our economy afloat. Senator Khan was censorious of our consulates that had the responsibility of ensuring that the registration process was completed. There are a number of employment opportunities on the horizon, such as the World Expo in Dubai in 2020 and the football World Cup in Doha in 2022, which are both going to require significant numbers of expatriate workers. Many of the jobs will require skilled workers and the Minister for Overseas Pakistanis is on record having said that his ministry is preparing a policy to maximise the benefit that may be derived for our export of labour. Well he might, as the international labour market not just in the Gulf states and the Arabian Peninsula, but in South Korea and Malaysia and elsewhere is hungry for workers. Let this be a timely warning to our overseas missions, because Pakistan can ill-afford to lose the income that it gets from its vast diaspora of expatriate workers.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2014.
That the amnesty would be of direct benefit to us, there is no doubt. The remittances that migrant workers send back to Pakistan are substantial, and one of the elements that keep our economy afloat. Senator Khan was censorious of our consulates that had the responsibility of ensuring that the registration process was completed. There are a number of employment opportunities on the horizon, such as the World Expo in Dubai in 2020 and the football World Cup in Doha in 2022, which are both going to require significant numbers of expatriate workers. Many of the jobs will require skilled workers and the Minister for Overseas Pakistanis is on record having said that his ministry is preparing a policy to maximise the benefit that may be derived for our export of labour. Well he might, as the international labour market not just in the Gulf states and the Arabian Peninsula, but in South Korea and Malaysia and elsewhere is hungry for workers. Let this be a timely warning to our overseas missions, because Pakistan can ill-afford to lose the income that it gets from its vast diaspora of expatriate workers.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2014.