Recent numbers by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment have revealed that over one million Pakistanis have migrated to Gulf countries since April last year, as reported by Middle East Eye.
The largest number of migrants, 700,000, went to Saudi Arabia, followed by 229,000 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), over 100,000 to Oman, and around 90,000 to Qatar.
Directorate General of Immigration and Passports recorded a surge in daily applications, which have escalated from 24,000 to 40,000. To address this, efforts are underway to increase the workforce and accelerate the processing time.
Imtiaz Gul, a journalist, told Middle East Eye that the youth in Pakistan are feeling extremely hopeless because of the ongoing problems in the country’s politics and economy.
He said that he knows many people who are moving abroad or selling everything to relocate, adding that something like this has never happened before.
Also, Pakistan’s economy is performing poorly. Last year, the country’s GDP growth rate was recorded at 6.1 percent, but now it is only 0.3 percent, which is a massive dip.
Furthermore, the large-scale manufacturing sector, which is vital for the country’s economy, has entered a recessionary phase. The growth in this sector, which was 10.6 percent last year, has alarmingly dropped to -8.11 percent.
Sales of major car manufacturers in the country have plummeted by 80 percent. A severe crackdown on imports, enforced to reduce the outflow of foreign exchange, has crippled the textile sector, leaving nearly seven million workers unemployed.
Kaiser Bengali, an economist and former government advisor, voiced concern about the grim results of skilled workers leaving Pakistan.
He commented that when these skilled people migrate, they usually take their families with them, which leads to a decrease in remittances.
Kaiser underlined the growing skills gap in the country, stating, “The skills gap is getting bigger and more critical. It’s already affecting Pakistan’s business capacity and killing off our skill capacity.”
He warned that this shortage of skilled labor would be evident to foreign investors when they return to Pakistan in the future.
Source: Pro Pakistani