#pakistani workers

[indizombie]

The return of migrants in huge numbers raises a lot of questions, not only about their settlement and employment, but also on how Pakistan’s economy is to bear the remittance gap. From January to November 2018, 346,467 workers migrated from Pakistan, as compared to 496,286 during the whole of 2017. Consequently, remittances to Pakistan also saw a steep drop in the last two years. For the fiscal year 2016–17, overseas Pakistanis sent about US$19,351million, down 2.84 percent from US$19,917 million in the previous year. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) host the bulk of the Pakistani labour force abroad and, hence, send the most remittances back to Pakistan. Remittances from Saudi Arabia alone faced a fall of 8.35 percent in fiscal year 2016–17.

Haniya Javed, 'How the Saudi recession is hurting Pakistani labour', Dawn

[indizombie]

Pakistani workers in the Kingdom not only support their families, but also the economy and industries of the countries in which they work as well the economy of Pakistan. But their treatment and plight often goes unnoticed. The governments must work together to identify Pakistanis in jail, and provide them with immediate legal support. Pakistan must also push for the prisoner transfer treaty with the Kingdom which the federal cabinet approved in March. The government should work to create an on-the-ground support network. The Sri Lankan government signed a labour agreement with Saudi Arabia to protect its 500,000 citizens in the country and established a 24-hour hotline for distressed workers.

Yumna Rizvi, 'The time to demand Saudi Arabia to treat Pakistani workers properly is now', Dawn