According to statistics released recently by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, more than a million Pakistanis have migrated to Gulf nations since April of last year, according to Middle East Eye.
700,000 migrants, the majority of whom went to Saudi Arabia, followed by 229,000 migrants to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), more than 100,000 migrants to Oman, and roughly 90,000 migrants to Qatar.
The number of daily applications increased from 24,000 to 40,000, according to the Directorate General of Immigration & Passports. In order to address this, initiatives are being taken to expand the workforce and speed up processing.
Journalist Imtiaz Gul stated to Middle East Eye that Pakistan’s youth feel completely hopeless as a result of the nation’s ongoing political and economic issues.
He claimed that this has never happened before and added that he knows numerous people who are leaving the country or selling everything to move.
The economy of Pakistan is also doing poorly. The GDP growth rate for the nation dropped dramatically from 6.1 percent last year to just 0.3 percent this year.
Additionally, crucial for the nation’s economy large-scale manufacturing sector has entered a recessionary stage. This sector’s growth, which was 10.6% last year, has alarmingly decreased to -8.11%.
The country’s top automakers have seen an 80% decline in sales. Imports have been severely restricted in order to stop the flow of foreign currency, but this has crippled the textile industry and put nearly seven million people out of work.
An economist and former government advisor named Kaiser Bengali expressed worry about the negative effects of skilled workers leaving Pakistan.
He remarked that a decrease in remittances results from the fact that these skilled workers typically migrate with their families.
The country’s widening skills gap was emphasized by Kaiser, who said: “The skills gap is getting bigger and more critical. Already, it has a negative impact on Pakistan’s business potential and destroys our skill potential.
He forewarned that foreign investors would soon notice Pakistan’s skilled labor shortage when they returned to the country.
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