New Delhi:
Amid Pakistan’s ongoing economic crisis, worrying news about human trafficking has emerged. Pak news outlet Dawn reported that the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis was told that a growing number of beggars from Pakistan were moving abroad, fueling ‘human trafficking’. During a discussion within the Senate panel on the issue of skilled and unskilled labor migration from Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Zulfikar Haider disclosed this information, Dawn further said.
The problem of “human trafficking” is getting worse, according to Haider, as more and more beggars from Pakistan travel abroad. He revealed that these beggars regularly misuse pilgrim visas to enter countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. He further informed about the growing trend of beggars flying from Pakistan to Japan on flights to overseas locations.
Most of the pickpockets caught at holy places like Haram are also Pakistanis, he further said. Beggars usually go on Umrah visas, they are not given work visas, The Nation quoted the secretary as saying. He said Japan had become a new destination for such visitors.
He noted that Saudi Arabia now prefers skilled workers over untrained workers. Senator Rana Mehmoodul Hasan highlighted Japan’s demand for skilled labor from different countries, with India, Nepal and Pakistan supplying different numbers of people. He also drew attention to the approximately 50,000 unemployed engineers in Pakistan.
Speaking about the Middle East, Senator Hasan noted that there are about three million Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia, 1.5 million in the UAE and about 200,000 in Qatar. Mr. Haider urged the need for cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies to help Pakistani engineers find employment in countries like Japan and China in view of the prevailing severe economic crisis.
Moreover, he acknowledged the desperation among highly qualified professionals in Pakistan, who are currently willing to accept salaries as low as Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month. Senator Zeeshan Khanzada reiterated Senator Mahmood’s position and highlighted the extreme desperation of the Pakistani people, some of whom are even willing to pay significant amounts for employment visas due to rampant inflation and recession.