Pakistani Workforce Faces Challenges in Gulf Countries: Senate

Islamabad, Jul 31 (PTI) The Gulf countries increasingly do not prefer workers from Pakistan and are recruiting from countries like Bangladesh due to the "deplorable standards" of the Pakistani workforce and the growing crime rate among the UAE labour force is reportedly attributed to Pakistanis, a media report said on Wednesday.

A meeting of the Senate's Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis, chaired by Senator Zeeshan Khanzada, on Tuesday, stressed that the government was ignoring the potential available in this sector.

The Pakistani diaspora includes 10.7 million individuals, primarily working in Saudi Arabia, UAE, US, UK and Canada, government data showed.

The meeting was informed that the “deplorable standard of Pakistani workforce,” mainly in the Gulf region, has led to the shifting of preferences by Gulf employers to hire workforce from other regional countries, such as Bangladesh, instead of Pakistan,” the Dawn newspaper reported.

After facing criticism from members of the committee regarding the failure of the government to harness the potential of the Pakistani diaspora, the secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Dr Arshad Mahmood presented the bleak picture of the situation of Pakistan's labour force in Gulf countries.

“Fifty per cent of the crime rate among the UAE labour force is reportedly attributed to Pakistanis,” the newspaper quoted the minister as saying.

The committee was further informed that UAE authorities have recently expressed concern over the inappropriate behaviour of some Pakistanis in their country, which includes making videos of women in Dubai without their consent.

The news report further said that the secretary of the ministry also spoke during the meeting. He said there was a declining trend in overseas employment for the Pakistani labour force and attributed the reason that despite modernisation and advancement in technology, a significant portion of the Pakistani labour force remained unskilled.

The committee was informed that the lack of resources and skill development of the Pakistan labour force has resulted in the replacement of Pakistani workers from other countries.

“Dr Mahmood said that a skilled labour force from countries such as Bangladesh serves as an inspiration and Pakistan needs to follow suit,” the newspaper said.

The secretary apprised the committee that the governments of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait have voiced reservations on various issues related to overseas Pakistanis.

The Senate committee was further informed that in September last year, organised gangs of Pakistani beggars were found operating in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. These gang members travelled to these countries as pilgrims on Umrah visas. “Saudi authorities have reported that 90 per cent of all beggars arrested in the country were Pakistanis,” the secretary told the meeting.

A committee member, Senator Nasir Abbas, highlighted the issue of Pakistanis living illegally in Iraq to earn a livelihood and questioned if the ministry can help them as they are often subjected to poor treatment.

However, the problem is not restricted to the Gulf region.
Senator Khanzada said that several Pakistanis were living illegally in Italy, but they identify themselves as non-Pakistanis while the Pakistan embassy identifies them as Pakistani citizens, the report said.