Migration to Non-English Speaking OECD Nations:
Among the biggest non-English Speaking OECD destinations in 2016 for Pakistani migrants are Italy (14,735) , Germany (12,215), Spain (6,461), South Korea (2,724), Japan (1,486), France (1,350) and Sweden (1.211).
 |
| Pakistani Migration to Non-English Speaking OECD Nations in 2016. Source: OECD |
Among English Speaking OECD nations, the top destination for Pakistani migrants continues to be the United States (19,313) followed by Canada (11,335), United Kingdom (11,000) and Australia (6,958).
 |
| Pakistanis in Italy. Source: Italian Government |
OECD Migration Report 2018:
Over 95,000 Pakistanis migrated to and another 50,000 acquired citizenship of the rich industrialized nations of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2016, according to International Migration Outlook 2018 released by the Organization.
Nearly 50,000 Pakistani immigrants became citizens of the rich industrialized countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2016, according to International Migration Outlook 2018 recently published by the Organization.
India topped the list with 130,000 Indians acquiring citizenship of OECD nations in 2016, followed by Mexico (112,000) ranked 2nd, the Philippines (94,000) ranked 3rd, Morocco (94,000) ranked 4th, China (78,000) ranked 5th, Albania (52,000) ranked 6th and Pakistan (50,000) ranked 7th.
In addition, Pakistan was the 18th largest source of immigrants with 95,000 Pakistanis migrating to OECD nations in 2016. India is 4th on this list with 271,000 Indians migrating to OECD countries.
Humanitarian migration of refugees, rather than migration for better economic prospects, dominated OECD inflows during 2015. War-torn Syria was the second largest source with 430,000 migrants in 2015, the report said.
Online Labor Market:
The Internet has enabled online labor markets where freelancers sell their services globally. Pakistan (8.5%) ranks 4th in the world for online labor after India (24%), Bangladesh (16%) and the United States (12%), according to Online Labor Index. This Index is based on data collected from four of the largest online labour platforms, also known as online freelancing or online outsourcing platforms: Fiverr, Freelancer, Guru, and PeoplePerHour. Most of the customer base for online platforms is located in OECD nations.
Pew Research Data:
India is the world's largest exporter of labor with 15.8 million Indians working in other countries. Bangladesh ranks 5th with 7.2 million Bangladeshis working overseas while Pakistan ranks 6th with 5.9 million Pakistanis working overseas, according to Pew Research report released ahead of International Migrants Day observance on Sunday, December 18, 2016.
International Migration:
Pew Research reports that nearly 3.5 million Indians lived in the UAE, the world’s second-largest migration corridor in 2015. While most of the migration is from low and middle income countries to high-income countries, the top 20 list of migrants' origins also includes rich countries like the United States (ranked 20), United Kingdom (11), Germany (14), Italy (21) and South Korea (25).
Top 25 Sources of Migrants:
Here is the list of top 20 countries of origin for international migrants:
1. India 15.9 million
2. Mexico 12.3 million
3. Russia 10.6 million
4. China 9.5 million
5. Bangladesh 7.2 million
6. Pakistan 5.9 million
7. Ukraine 5.83 million
8. Philippines 5.32 million
9. Syria 5.01 million
10. Afghanistan 4.84 million
11. United Kingdom 4.92 million
12. Poland 4.45 million
13. Kazakstan 4.08 million
14. Germany 4.0 million
15. Indonesia 3.88 million
16. Palestine 3.55 million
17. Romania 3.41 million
18. Egypt 3.27 million
19. Turkey 3.11 million
20. United States 3.02 million
21. Italy 2.9 million
22. Burma (Myanmar) 2.88 million
23. Colombia 2.64 million
24. Vietnam 2.56 million
25. South Korea 2.35 million
Declining Labor Pool in Developed Economies:
The world population is aging with slowing labor force growth. It is particularly true of the more developed nations with aging populations and declining birth rates. In an recent report titled "Asian Economic Integration Report", the Asian Development argued that migration within Asia can help deal with regional labor imbalances. It said as follows:
"In Asia and the Pacific, many economies could expand their role as the source or host economy for migrant workers.
Labor supply is still growing in developing economies—such as Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines—and they could export labor across the region. In contrast, developed but aging economies such as Hong Kong, China; the Republic of Korea; Japan; and Singapore are unable to meet labor demand with their dwindling workforce.
Hence, these economies would benefit from immigrant labor. Kang and Magoncia (2016) further discuss the potential for migration to reallocate labor from surplus to deficit economies and offer a glimpse of how the demographic shift will frame Asia’s future population structure, particularly the future working age population. Among the issues explored is the magnitude of labor force surpluses and deficits within different economies in Asia."
Pakistan's Growing Labor Force:
Pakistan has the world’s sixth largest population, sixth largest diaspora and the ninth largest labor force with growing human capital. With rapidly declining fertility and aging populations in the industrialized world, Pakistan's growing talent pool is likely to play a much bigger role to satisfy global demand for workers in the 21st century and contribute to the well-being of Pakistan as well as other parts of the world.
With half the population below 20 years and 60 per cent below 30 years, Pakistan is well-positioned to reap what is often described as "demographic dividend", with its workforce growing at a faster rate than total population. This trend is estimated to accelerate over several decades. Contrary to the oft-repeated talk of doom and gloom, average Pakistanis are now taking education more seriously than ever. Youth literacy is about 70% and growing, and young people are spending more time in schools and colleges to graduate at higher rates than their Indian counterparts in 15+ age group, according to a report on educational achievement by Harvard University researchers Robert Barro and Jong-Wha Lee. Vocational training is also getting increased focus since 2006 under National Vocational Training Commission (NAVTEC) with help from Germany, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands.
Pakistan's work force is over 60 million strong, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics. With increasing female participation, the country's labor pool is rising at a rate of 3.5% a year, according to International Labor Organization.
With rising urban middle class, there is substantial and growing demand in Pakistan from students, parents and employers for private quality higher education along with a willingness and capacity to pay relatively high tuition and fees, according to the findings of Austrade, an Australian government agency promoting trade. Private institutions are seeking affiliations with universities abroad to ensure they offer information and training that is of international standards.
Trans-national education (TNE) is a growing market in Pakistan and recent data shows evidence of over 40 such programs running successfully in affiliation with British universities at undergraduate and graduate level, according to The British Council. Overall, the UK takes about 65 per cent of the TNE market in Pakistan.
It is extremely important for Pakistan's public policy makers and the nation's private sector to fully appreciate the expected demographic dividend as a great opportunity. The best way for them to demonstrate it is to push a pro-youth agenda of education, skills development, health and fitness to take full advantage of this tremendous opportunity. Failure to do so would be a missed opportunity that could be extremely costly for Pakistan and the rest of the world.
In the high fertility countries of Africa and Asia family sizes are continuing to decline. And in low fertility countries family sizes will continue to remain below replacement levels. Why? Because the same juggernaut forces are operating: increasing urbanization, smaller and costly housing, expanding higher education and career opportunities for women, high financial costs and time pressures for childrearing and changing attitudes and life styles.
Countries With Declining Populations:
115 countries, including China (1.55), Hong Kong (1.17), Taiwan (1.11) and Singapore (0.8) are well below the replacement level of 2.1 TFR. Their populations will sharply decline in later part of the 21st century.
United States is currently at 2.01 TFR, slightly below the replacement rate. "We don't take a stance one way or the other on whether it's good or bad," said Mark Mather, demographer with the Population Reference Bureau. Small year-to-year changes like those experienced by the United States don't make much difference, he noted. But a sharp or sustained drop over a decade or more "will certainly have long-term consequences for society," he told Utah-based Desert News National.
Japan (1.4 TFR) and Russia (1.6 TFR) are experiencing among the sharpest population declines in the world. One manifestation in Japan is the data on diaper sales: Unicharm Corp., a major diaper maker, has seen sales of adult diapers outpace infant diapers since 2013, according to New York Times.
The Russian population grew from about 100 million in 1950 to almost149 million by the early 1990s. Since then, the Russian population has declined, and official reports put it at around 144 million, according to Yale Global Online.
Reversing Trends:
Countries, most recently China, are finding that it is far more difficult to raise low fertility than it is reduce high fertility. The countries in the European Union are offering a variety of incentives, including birth starter kits to assist new parents in Finland, cheap childcare centers and liberal parental leave in France and a year of paid maternity leave in Germany, according to Desert News. But the fertility rates in these countries remain below replacement levels.
Summary:
Overzealous Pakistani birth control advocates need to understand what countries with sub-replacement fertility rates are now seeing: Low birth rates lead to diminished economic growth. "Fewer kids mean fewer tax-paying workers to support public pension programs. An "older society", noted the late Nobel laureate economist Gary Becker, is "less dynamic, creative and entrepreneurial." Growing labor force n Pakistan can not only contribute to Pakistan's prosperity but also help alleviate the effects of aging populations and declining labor pools in more developed economies. I believe that Pakistan's growing population and young demographics should be seen as a blessing, not a curse.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Pakistan is the 7th Largest Source of Migrants in OECD Nations
Pakistanis Mini-Invasion of China
Inspirational Story of Karachi Rickshaw Driver's Daughters
Pakistan's Expected Demographic Dividend
Pakistan's Growing Human Capital
Upwardly Mobile Pakistan
Pakistan Most Urbanized in South Asia
Hindu Population Growth Rate in Pakistan
Do South Asian Slums Offer Hope?
Nearly 50,000 Pakistani immigrants became citizens of the rich industrialized countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2016, according to International Migration Outlook 2018 recently published by the Organization.
 |
| Source: International Migration Outlook 2018 |
India topped the list with 130,000 Indians acquiring citizenship of OECD nations in 2016, followed by Mexico (112,000) ranked 2nd, the Philippines (94,000) ranked 3rd, Morocco (94,000) ranked 4th, China (78,000) ranked 5th, Albania (52,000) ranked 6th and Pakistan (50,000) ranked 7th.
In addition, Pakistan was the 18th largest source of immigrants with 95,000 Pakistanis migrating to OECD nations in 2016. India is 4th on this list with 271,000 Indians migrating to OECD countries.
 |
| Source: International Migration Outlook 2018 |
Humanitarian migration of refugees, rather than migration for better economic prospects, dominated OECD inflows during 2015. War-torn Syria was the second largest source with 430,000 migrants in 2015, the report said.
Online Labor Market:
The Internet has enabled online labor markets where freelancers sell their services globally. Pakistan (8.5%) ranks 4th in the world for online labor after India (24%), Bangladesh (16%) and the United States (12%), according to Online Labor Index. This Index is based on data collected from four of the largest online labour platforms, also known as online freelancing or online outsourcing platforms: Fiverr, Freelancer, Guru, and PeoplePerHour. Most of the customer base for online platforms is located in OECD nations.
 |
| Online Labor. Source: International Labor Organization |
Pew Research Data:
India is the world's largest exporter of labor with 15.8 million Indians working in other countries. Bangladesh ranks 5th with 7.2 million Bangladeshis working overseas while Pakistan ranks 6th with 5.9 million Pakistanis working overseas, according to Pew Research report released ahead of International Migrants Day observance on Sunday, December 18, 2016.
International Migration:
 |
| Countries of Origin of Migrants to the United States Source: Pew Research |
Pew Research reports that nearly 3.5 million Indians lived in the UAE, the world’s second-largest migration corridor in 2015. While most of the migration is from low and middle income countries to high-income countries, the top 20 list of migrants' origins also includes rich countries like the United States (ranked 20), United Kingdom (11), Germany (14), Italy (21) and South Korea (25).
Top 25 Sources of Migrants:
Here is the list of top 20 countries of origin for international migrants:
1. India 15.9 million
2. Mexico 12.3 million
3. Russia 10.6 million
4. China 9.5 million
5. Bangladesh 7.2 million
6. Pakistan 5.9 million
7. Ukraine 5.83 million
8. Philippines 5.32 million
9. Syria 5.01 million
10. Afghanistan 4.84 million
11. United Kingdom 4.92 million
12. Poland 4.45 million
13. Kazakstan 4.08 million
14. Germany 4.0 million
15. Indonesia 3.88 million
16. Palestine 3.55 million
17. Romania 3.41 million
18. Egypt 3.27 million
19. Turkey 3.11 million
20. United States 3.02 million
21. Italy 2.9 million
22. Burma (Myanmar) 2.88 million
23. Colombia 2.64 million
24. Vietnam 2.56 million
25. South Korea 2.35 million
Declining Labor Pool in Developed Economies:
The world population is aging with slowing labor force growth. It is particularly true of the more developed nations with aging populations and declining birth rates. In an recent report titled "Asian Economic Integration Report", the Asian Development argued that migration within Asia can help deal with regional labor imbalances. It said as follows:
"In Asia and the Pacific, many economies could expand their role as the source or host economy for migrant workers.
Labor supply is still growing in developing economies—such as Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines—and they could export labor across the region. In contrast, developed but aging economies such as Hong Kong, China; the Republic of Korea; Japan; and Singapore are unable to meet labor demand with their dwindling workforce.
Hence, these economies would benefit from immigrant labor. Kang and Magoncia (2016) further discuss the potential for migration to reallocate labor from surplus to deficit economies and offer a glimpse of how the demographic shift will frame Asia’s future population structure, particularly the future working age population. Among the issues explored is the magnitude of labor force surpluses and deficits within different economies in Asia."
Pakistan's Growing Labor Force:
Pakistan has the world’s sixth largest population, sixth largest diaspora and the ninth largest labor force with growing human capital. With rapidly declining fertility and aging populations in the industrialized world, Pakistan's growing talent pool is likely to play a much bigger role to satisfy global demand for workers in the 21st century and contribute to the well-being of Pakistan as well as other parts of the world.
With half the population below 20 years and 60 per cent below 30 years, Pakistan is well-positioned to reap what is often described as "demographic dividend", with its workforce growing at a faster rate than total population. This trend is estimated to accelerate over several decades. Contrary to the oft-repeated talk of doom and gloom, average Pakistanis are now taking education more seriously than ever. Youth literacy is about 70% and growing, and young people are spending more time in schools and colleges to graduate at higher rates than their Indian counterparts in 15+ age group, according to a report on educational achievement by Harvard University researchers Robert Barro and Jong-Wha Lee. Vocational training is also getting increased focus since 2006 under National Vocational Training Commission (NAVTEC) with help from Germany, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands.
Pakistan's work force is over 60 million strong, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics. With increasing female participation, the country's labor pool is rising at a rate of 3.5% a year, according to International Labor Organization.
With rising urban middle class, there is substantial and growing demand in Pakistan from students, parents and employers for private quality higher education along with a willingness and capacity to pay relatively high tuition and fees, according to the findings of Austrade, an Australian government agency promoting trade. Private institutions are seeking affiliations with universities abroad to ensure they offer information and training that is of international standards.
Trans-national education (TNE) is a growing market in Pakistan and recent data shows evidence of over 40 such programs running successfully in affiliation with British universities at undergraduate and graduate level, according to The British Council. Overall, the UK takes about 65 per cent of the TNE market in Pakistan.
It is extremely important for Pakistan's public policy makers and the nation's private sector to fully appreciate the expected demographic dividend as a great opportunity. The best way for them to demonstrate it is to push a pro-youth agenda of education, skills development, health and fitness to take full advantage of this tremendous opportunity. Failure to do so would be a missed opportunity that could be extremely costly for Pakistan and the rest of the world.
 |
| Growth Forecast 2014-2050. Source: EIU |
In the high fertility countries of Africa and Asia family sizes are continuing to decline. And in low fertility countries family sizes will continue to remain below replacement levels. Why? Because the same juggernaut forces are operating: increasing urbanization, smaller and costly housing, expanding higher education and career opportunities for women, high financial costs and time pressures for childrearing and changing attitudes and life styles.
 |
| Source: BBC |
Countries With Declining Populations:
115 countries, including China (1.55), Hong Kong (1.17), Taiwan (1.11) and Singapore (0.8) are well below the replacement level of 2.1 TFR. Their populations will sharply decline in later part of the 21st century.
United States is currently at 2.01 TFR, slightly below the replacement rate. "We don't take a stance one way or the other on whether it's good or bad," said Mark Mather, demographer with the Population Reference Bureau. Small year-to-year changes like those experienced by the United States don't make much difference, he noted. But a sharp or sustained drop over a decade or more "will certainly have long-term consequences for society," he told Utah-based Desert News National.
Japan (1.4 TFR) and Russia (1.6 TFR) are experiencing among the sharpest population declines in the world. One manifestation in Japan is the data on diaper sales: Unicharm Corp., a major diaper maker, has seen sales of adult diapers outpace infant diapers since 2013, according to New York Times.
 |
| Median Age Map: Africa in teens, Pakistan in 20s, China, South America and US in 30s, Europe, Canada and Japan in 40s. |
The Russian population grew from about 100 million in 1950 to almost149 million by the early 1990s. Since then, the Russian population has declined, and official reports put it at around 144 million, according to Yale Global Online.
Reversing Trends:
Countries, most recently China, are finding that it is far more difficult to raise low fertility than it is reduce high fertility. The countries in the European Union are offering a variety of incentives, including birth starter kits to assist new parents in Finland, cheap childcare centers and liberal parental leave in France and a year of paid maternity leave in Germany, according to Desert News. But the fertility rates in these countries remain below replacement levels.
Summary:
Overzealous Pakistani birth control advocates need to understand what countries with sub-replacement fertility rates are now seeing: Low birth rates lead to diminished economic growth. "Fewer kids mean fewer tax-paying workers to support public pension programs. An "older society", noted the late Nobel laureate economist Gary Becker, is "less dynamic, creative and entrepreneurial." Growing labor force n Pakistan can not only contribute to Pakistan's prosperity but also help alleviate the effects of aging populations and declining labor pools in more developed economies. I believe that Pakistan's growing population and young demographics should be seen as a blessing, not a curse.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
South Asia Investor Review
Pakistan is the 7th Largest Source of Migrants in OECD Nations
Pakistanis Mini-Invasion of China
Inspirational Story of Karachi Rickshaw Driver's Daughters
Pakistan's Expected Demographic Dividend
Pakistan's Growing Human Capital
Upwardly Mobile Pakistan
Pakistan Most Urbanized in South Asia
Hindu Population Growth Rate in Pakistan
Do South Asian Slums Offer Hope?
35 comments:
Mostly Gujrat district folks they made a name for themselves in Spain
During the first ten months of 2015, a total of 774,795 migrant workers left Pakistan. That number is presumed to have exceeded 800,000 by end of December 2015, constituting yet a new record.
http://www.oit.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-kathmandu/documents/publication/wcms_514139.pdf
Over the past decade, there has been a substantial increase in the foreign employment of Paki- stanis. There are three modes for migrating overseas: through overseas employment promoters, through the OEC and for workers to directly obtain employment. The data on workers using an overseas employment promoter and managing overseas migration on their own is collected by the BEOE. The OEC maintains its own records. Based on both sets of records, more than 8.7 million Pakistani workers have gone abroad for employment since the 1970s. Most of them were registered with the BEOE, with only a total of 139,354 Pakistani workers using the services of the OEC over the past five decades. According to the BEOE records, the annual placement of Pakistanis increased from 143,329 in 2005 to 431,842 in 2008. After a decline during the following two years, it reached 458,229 migrant workers in 2011 before jumping to 639,601 workers in 2012 and 753,841 workers in 2014 (figure 1). During the first ten months of 2015, a total of 774,795 migrant workers left Pakistan. That number is presumed to have exceeded 800,000 by end of December 2015, constituting yet a new record.
During the economic boom period (2005–08), there was an increasing trend of overseas migration, from 4 per cent in 2005 to 10.5 per cent in 2008. After 2008, the world economies as well as the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (popular destinations for Pakistani workers) were hit hard by the global financial cri- sis. There was then a substantial decline in economic growth across the globe, severely affecting overseas migration. As a result, demand for foreign labour declined in GCC countries and, hence, overseas migration from Pakistan declined. The flow of overseas migration increased at an average growth of 8 per cent instead of 10 per cent during that crisis period. The pace picked up after 2011, returning to a growth rate of more than 10 per cent per annum.
Pakistan is administratively demarcated into four provinces and three regions (the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir). There are 148 dis- tricts2 in these provinces and regions. The data on the origin of migrants from Pakistan is not evenly distributed across provinces and regions nor across districts; rather, there appears to be a concentration in some districts. Between 1981 and 2015, as shown in Map 1, more than 4.1 million workers from Punjab Province who registered with the BEOE went abroad for employ- ment, followed by more than 2 million workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, 757,053 workers from Sindh Province, 404,698 workers from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and 94,942 from Balochistan.
United Nations International Migration Report
https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/migrationreport/docs/MigrationReport2017_Highlights.pdf
In 2017, India was the largest country of origin of
international migrants (17 million), followed by
Mexico (13 million). Other countries of origin with
large migrant populations include the Russian
Federation (11 million), China (10 million),
Bangladesh (7 million), Syrian Arab Republic (7
million) and Pakistan and Ukraine (6 million each).
Globally, the twenty largest countries or areas of origin account for almost half (49 per
cent) of all international migrants, while one-third (34 per cent) of all international migrants
originates in only ten countries. India is now the country with the largest number of people
living outside the country’s borders (“diaspora”), followed by Mexico, the Russian
Federation and China. In 2017, 16.6 million persons from India were living in another
country compared to 13.0 million for Mexico (figure 7). Other countries with significant
“diaspora” populations are the Russian Federation (10.6 million), China (10.0 million),
13
International Migration Report 2017: Highlights
Bangladesh (7.5 million), Syrian Arab Republic (6.9 million), Pakistan (6.0 million) and
Ukraine (5.9 million). Of the twenty largest countries or areas of origin of international
migrants, eleven were located in Asia, six in Europe, and one each in Africa, Latin America
and the Caribbean, and Northern America.
#Pakistan sent 55,000 #workers to #Qatar under 100,000 quota. 10,000 #Pakistanis preceded to Qatar for various job opportunities in 2016 and 2017. As many as 20,000 manpower was sent to Qatar during in 2018. #Migrants #Labor #Gulf https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/495630-pakistan-sent-55000-workforce-to-qatar-under-100000-quota
Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development has sent as many as 55,000 skilled and semi-skilled workforce to Qatar for prospective job opportunities in construction and other sectors since 2015.
Qatar had announced to hire 100,000 Pakistan’s workforce in 2015, the official sources told APP.
They said around 10,000 Pakistanis preceded to Qatar for various job opportunities in 2016 and 2017. However, the sources said, as many as 20,000 manpower was sent to Qatar during the last year.
"This figure saw hundred per cent surge due to the sincere efforts of Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis on foreign front,” they added.
They said around 8,800 Pakistanis went Qatar during the first five months of this year.
Now, the ministry was in contact with the authorities concerned in Qatar to fulfill the quota by this year end.
Last month, Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari had informed APP that his ministry was eying to double Qatar’s 100,000 quota for Pakistani workers.
Highlighting the government efforts on diplomatic front, he said Qatar has established three visa facilitation centres at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, respectively to ensure swift processing of intending emigrants’ visas.
Bukhari said special facilitation centres were set up for the aspirants, who see Qatar as a prospective foreign job destination, to augment Pakistani manpower abroad, in addition to protect their rights abroad.
Japan and Pakistan signed a memorandum of cooperation on Monday aimed at paving the way for skilled Pakistani workers to work in Japan, the Japanese Embassy said.
The cooperation framework agreement provides that “specified skilled workers” who pass a required examination and a basic Japanese-language comprehension test will be eligible for employment in Japan, according to a press release by the embassy.
It said Pakistan is among the countries from which Japan is looking to hire skilled workers, having already inked similar memoranda with Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The embassy also mentioned new statuses of residence created by the Japanese government for specific skilled workers, which became effective on April 1, and that the nation expects to hire 340,000 such laborers from across the world over the next five years.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Kentaro Sonoura, a special adviser on foreign affairs to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan conveyed his appreciation of the deal in a meeting with Sonoura.
Why do 30,000-40,000 #migrants from #Pakistan head to #Europe every year? Prof Andreas Schloenhardt: Pakistan has a strong #expat community abroad; many #Pakistanis have family abroad, so they hope to join their families. #migration https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/22133/why-do-migrants-from-pakistan-head-to-europe via @InfoMigrants
According to estimates by the Pakistani authorities, some 30,000 to 40,000 people from Pakistan attempt illegal passage to Europe via Iran and Turkey every year. InfoMigrants spoke to an expert to find out which factors lead to this trend.
InfoMigrants: What are the main causes that force people from Pakistan to undertake perilous journeys towards Europe?
Andreas Schloenhardt: The causes are complex and involve lots of factors from the Pakistani context; such as slow economic development, a fragile security situation, regularly occurring natural disasters and political instability. This leads to a scarcity of opportunities for higher education and skilled employment. In addition, Pakistan has a strong expat community abroad; many Pakistanis have family abroad, so they hope to join their families.
The majority of migrants heading to European countries tend to come from the Gujrat district in Pakistan’s western Punjab province. This trend has persisted for several decades now. How effective will legislation prove to be in limiting illegal migration from Pakistan?
In many parts of Pakistan, economic development and job opportunities are very limited and those are the main reasons for migration. Any laws or other measures to combat smuggling of migrants and close migration routes do nothing to address the main causes of migration and displacement. What is needed, are laws that manage and regulate emigration from Pakistan and entry into other countries, as well as mechanisms to facilitate the return of Pakistani nationals.
Pakistan has a labor migration policy that seeks to assist and protect Pakistani nationals seeking employment abroad (mostly in the Gulf region). This is however rarely matched by legislation in the receiving countries that control and manage incoming labor migrants. Much can be done on that front to push irregular migration into legal avenues.
Furthermore, many Pakistanis found to be in Europe unlawfully cannot just be returned to Pakistan as the country is slow at, and sometimes refuses to issue travel documents. Plus, quite a few countries don’t have any agreements with Pakistan to facilitate the return of migrants.
Smuggling of migrants is what they call a trans-national crime. Is anything being done at a trans-national level to combat this crime and to apprehend networks of smugglers who are spread across many regions and countries?
There are ample international initiatives to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants on the international level. Chief among them is the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants. Regrettably, the problem of migrant smuggling seems to be receiving less attention from European governments now than compared to three or four years ago; only a few states actively engage in forums to make the protocol function and enhance international cooperation.
Furthermore, too little is being done to stop the smuggling of migrants overall. The Global Compact on Migration that came into force a year ago also provides durable solutions to stop smuggling of migrants, along with other forms of irregular migration. But, once more, many states are slow to implement meaningful responses; many remain hostile to them. The responsibility and fault here squarely rests with individual states, not with international organizations that stand ready to assist individual states.
Stopping smuggling of migrants seems not to be a priority in Pakistan - a country struggling with political instability, terrorism and a weak economy. Is this correct?
Sorya Lippert is deputy mayor of the #Bavarian city Schweinfurt. Her mom was #German and her father #Pakistani. Born in #London, she grew up in #Karachi, Pakistan. She says her heart will always remain in #Pakistan and wants to return to it someday. https://www.dw.com/en/from-pakistan-to-germany-a-german-mayors-migration-story/av-54783616
While talking to media through Zoom, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Italy, Jauhar Saleem said that Pakistan and Italy are working on a labour agreement that will give Pakistan a comprehensive market access to Italian labour market.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/04/28/italy-to-give-pakistan-access-to-its-labour-market-ambassador/
The Ambassador informed that Pakistan’s exports to Italy reached an all-time high of $805 million during the first 9 months of this financial year. The value added sectors were the main drivers of this growth which produced a trade surplus of $372 million. Italy is expected to be one billion export market for Pakistan in FY 2021-22.
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Jauhar Saleem also shared that Pakistan has posted a trade surplus of $372 million during the financial year 2021-22 (July-March), which is 65 per cent higher than the previous year.
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He informed that Pakistan has shared the draft agreement with Italian authorities and formal negotiations will be started soon.
He stated that Pakistan has been included in the Italian seasonal work visa for 2022 also, which would offer many opportunities for Pakistani workers in agriculture and services sector to work in Italy.
Italy is expected to allow 69,700 seasonal workers from selected countries in 2022 to come to Italy for work. He also elaborated upon various initiatives for promoting welfare of Pakistani diaspora in Italy.
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Despite the difficult conditions propelled by the pandemic, Pakistan has registered an impressive growth of 41 per cent in FY 2021-22 (July-March) as compared to corresponding period.
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While responding to a question, the Ambassador stated that despite the false and fabricated Indian claim over Basmati`s exclusive Geographical Indication (GI) rights in the EU and Italian market, Pakistan maintained its position as market leader in rice export to Italy with 38 per cent share, whereas India supplied only 12 per cent of the total imported rice in Italy.
He also shared that following the Brexit, Italy is now home to the largest Pakistani diaspora in the European Union (EU).
In FY 2021-22 (July-March), workers remittances from Italy reached $639 million, which marks a 48 per cent increase over the last year, and is an all-time high figure, making Italy Pakistan`s biggest source of remittances in the EU and the 7th largest in the world. He expected the growth streak to continue in the last quarter of this financial year to take workers remittances from Italy around one billion dollar.
In the area of investment, industrial and technological cooperation, Ambassador Saleem mentioned that various Italian firms were keen to invest in the fields of energy, food processing, leather, textile, construction and furnishing.
He added that the embassy was promoting JV mode for increased Italian investment in Pakistan that will help in technology and skills transfer to our businesses. He also highlighted the initiatives in tourism, especially in terms of capacity building of Pakistan`s tourism sector through Italian experts.
Pakistan-born diaspora in OECD countries as of 2019/20:
Austria 4,112
Belgium 5,927
Denmark 10,669
France 21,900 (2017)
Germany 75,495
Ireland 7,351 (2016)
Italy 121,609
Japan 17,766
Korea 11,523
Netherlands 4,723
Norway 5,157
Portugal 5,310
Spain 61,953
Sweden 11,674
Turkey 8,332
https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=MIG
The changing geography of remittance inflows
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2312688/the-changing-geography-of-remittance-inflows
The performance of these traditional sources of remittances mostly located in the Persian Gulf and North America ( Saudi Arabia, UAE, US, UK) pales in comparison with the growth in remittances from the younger communities sprouting in Europe and Asia Pacific. Remittances from EU countries (excluding the UK) increased by a spectacular 663.7% during the 2010-11 to 2020-21 period. Inflows from Germany and the Netherlands grew threefold, while those from Sweden grew fivefold. Growth was even higher for the three Latin countries, Spain (651%), France (957%) and Italy (1,128%). The best growth rate was achieved for Greece and Belgium, from where remittances grew 23 and 72 times, respectively. The growing diaspora in Australia and Japan too appears to send significantly more, with remittances from the two countries growing five and ninefold in the past 10 years, respectively.
In the preceding two decades, thousands of Pakistanis went to work in Europe, mainly to Southern European countries. Many of them were initially irregular workers who have since become legal residents, and can now use formal means of transferring money to their families back home. The Pakistani community in several countries in northern Europe and Australia has by contrast grown chiefly through emigration and settling down of university graduates.
As a result of these growth differentials, fast-growing remittances from Pakistani communities based in Europe and the Far East have gained importance overtime at the cost of slow-growing flows from the US. While transfers from the six Gulf states have maintained their lion’s share of Pakistan’s remittances of about 58%, those from the EU have grown threefold, from 3.1% in FY11 to 9.2% in FY21. Similarly, the relative share of remittances from Australia and Japan, which used to be negligible until recently, has collectively grown threefold in the past 10 years. Thanks to these changes in regional distribution, Europe has now become Pakistan’s second major sending region after the Persian Gulf, replacing North America, while the hitherto insignificant community in Asia Pacific is gradually coming into its own. Although Pakistan’s heavy reliance on the GCC states for its remittances has not yet waned, the increasing number of countries where Pakistani communities are getting settled and beginning to send significant amounts of money augurs well for the stability and durability of the country’s remittances.
Pakistani Population in Europe
Pakistan has the 6th largest diaspora in the world, with 8-10 million people living or settled outside Pakistan. As per the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and HRD report 2017, an estimated 8.8 million Pakistanis live abroad or outside Pakistan.
According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, approximately 2 million Pakistanis live in Europe according to December 2017 estimates, with the vast majority, over 1.5 million, residing in the United Kingdom. Italy, Germany, Spain, and France are other countries in Europe with sizeable Pakistani populations.
As per the estimates, the Pakistani Population in European Union in 2022 is 0.5 million.
Source: Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and HRD report 2017
https://www.findeasy.in/pakistani-population-in-european-union/
# EU Country Overseas Pakistani population
1 Germany 124,000
2 Italy 122,884
3 France 104,000
4 Spain 91,632
5 Norway 39,257
6 Greece 34,177
7 Denmark 25,661
8 Sweden 24,631
9 Netherlands 23,855
10 Belgium 19,247
The Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Kuninori Matsuda told journalists last Friday that Japan would add Pakistan to the list of nine other world countries eligible to apply for Japan employment visas.
While the employment scheme was initially announced for 9 countries – Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, Cambodia, and China – Pakistan may soon become the 10 country part of the list.
According to Ambassador Matsuda, Japan is about to open the working visas for skilled workers from Pakistan, in a bid to tackle the aging and shrinking population of the country.
https://visaguide.world/news/japan/japan-to-offer-work-visas-to-skilled-pakistanis/
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Japan will make it easier to bring in talented foreign workers to regions outside the metropolitan areas by offering a fast-track path to permanent residency.
The government will revise a point system that grades individuals based on annual income, educational backgrounds and job experience. Those with high scores receive preferential treatment.
Now the government will add points for working at companies promoted by local communities. The government had rolled out the program on a trial basis in Hiroshima Prefecture and Kitakyushu and will now expand it nationwide.
The aim is to attract such specialists as researchers, engineers and business managers. Many companies in rural areas are facing a need for transformation in response to digitalization and decarbonization. In Hiroshima Prefecture, for example, semiconductor developers are trying to invite engineers.
An applicant whose point total reaches 70 will qualify for "highly specialized profession" status, and the period of stay in Japan required to obtain permanent residence will be shortened to three years from 10. At 80 points, only one year will be required. Parents and domestic servants will be allowed to come along, and spouses will be permitted to work.
Working in a local company will be worth 10 points and treated the same as having annual income of 10 million yen or more as a manager.
The number of workers certified as highly specialized reached 31,451 at the end of 2021. The number continue to rise despite the pandemic. By nationality, Chinese accounted for approximately 70% as of the end of 2020, followed by Indians at 6% and Americans at 5%.
Currently, daily arrivals are capped at 20,000 in response to COVID-19. The government is trying to lay the groundwork for stepped-up recruitment of foreign nationals in a post-coronavirus era.
It will also try to find smaller local companies seeking foreign talent with the help of the Japan External Trade Organization. In fiscal 2021, JETRO helped companies hire 180 people.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-immigration/Japan-s-small-cities-to-draw-foreign-talent-with-fast-track-residency
Pakistan’s earnings from Italy in exports and remittances crossed $2 billion in Financial Year 2021-2022. In addition a substantial growth in FDI from Italy was also witnessed during the record breaking year.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/07/20/earnings-from-italy-in-exports-remittances-cross-2bn/
Italy became the seventh billion dollar export country for Pakistan during the year with a record growth of export volume to $1,146 million, while the remittances from Italy were also on the path to touch billion dollars soon with a total of $857 million during the year.
June 2022 also set the record for highest export volume ever to Italy in a single month crossing $144 million.
Italy posted the highest growth both in workers remittances among all countries with high numbers of Pakistani diaspora and for exports among the top ten export destinations.
This phenomenal growth in exports and remittances has come at a time when European economies in general and Italian economy in particular is slowing down and facing multiple challenges due to Ukraine war.
The exports to Italy of $1.15 billion in FY 2021-22 are 46% higher than the previous year, while the remittances are 41% higher for the same period than the last year.
While talking to media, Pakistan`s Ambassador to Italy, Jauhar Saleem paid glowing tributes to the Pakistani exporters for their initiative and hard work and to the Pakistani diaspora in Italy for standing by the country in a most challenging economic environment. He also shared that Pakistan had posted a record trade surplus of $573 million during the financial year 2021-22 which is 91% higher than the previous year.
According to the envoy, the value added sectors were the main drivers of the exceptional export growth with exports of plastic products increasing by 208%, sports goods 80%, leather 42%, home textiles 36% and garments 35%. The ambassador also shared that even as the pandemic hit global footwear market witnessed a contraction of shrank demand during the year, Pakistan’s exports of footwear to Italy increased by 19% in the year and Italy has become the 3rd largest export destination for Pakistani footwear. Italy is also the 5th largest destination for Pakistani home textiles and ranks No.6 in garments exports.
Ambassador Saleem also informed that that with the revival of market activities after removal of pandemic related restrictions in Italy, the Pakistan Embassy in Italy was further pacing up its activities to connect Pakistani businesses with Italian firms to sustain the exports and FDI growth. During the just concluded financial year, Pakistan received Italian investment in the sectors of food processing, chemicals, construction, leather, footwear, energy related equipment and IT.
The Ambassador also shared that some of the recent joint ventures between leading Pakistani and Italian footwear firms were enabling technology transfer, international marketing skills and supply chain management to Pakistani firms. Moreover, Italy was also providing technical support in agriculture sector especially related to olive and olive products. Similarly, Italy is supporting the efforts for reduction of risks of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) and hydrogeological hazards in mountainous areas by establishing an evidence-based assessment and monitoring system for glaciers in Gilgit Baltistan.
Ambassador Jauhar Saleem also informed the media that Italy has announced to allow 69,700 seasonal workers from selected countries in 2022 to come to Italy for work. Pakistan has already been included in the Italian Seasonal Work Visa Programme for 2022, which would offer many opportunities to our workers in agriculture and services sector to work in Italy. He added that Italian government has recently reduced the timelines for work visa processing which has been a long standing demand from Pakistani workers.
Mismanagement complicates Pakistan’s long recovery from deadly floods
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/mismanagement-complicates-pakistans-long-recovery-from-deadly-floods
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
For decades, Karachi has been a magnet for migrants from conflict and climate disasters. Decades ago, it ran out of room. Dotting the city's outskirts are clusters of ramshackle dwellings. These have stood since the 2010 floods.
Less than a mile away, crammed under high-voltage power lines, a 2022 wave of settlers.
Sikhandar Chandio, Flood Victim (through translator):
When the water came, it came all of a sudden at night. We just managed to get out with whatever we could and had to abandon our animals.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Sikhandar Chandio and his wife, Sughra, were sharecropper farmers. They escaped with their four children, and were able to save one cow. They journeyed here on foot, which took a week.
Sughra Chandio, Flood Victim (through translator):
Everything was underwater. There were no facilities. There was no help, no food.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Today, they rely on a patchwork of charities, everyone overwhelmed by what U.N. officials describe as one of the worst climate disasters on record, slamming a country that contributes less than 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.
Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistani Prime Minister (through translator):
We have mobilized every available resource towards the national relief effort, and repurposed all budget priorities.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Pakistan took the lead at this year's COP 27 climate conference, helping to secure agreement on a loss and damage fund to help developing nations cope.
Just how those funds, if they appear, will be used is a concern.
Kaiser Bengali, Former Adviser, Pakistan Ministry of Planning and Development: But there is a fair amount of manmade responsibility for these floods, and politics plays a big part.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Kaiser Bengali was a government adviser during the 2010 floods, Pakistan's worst until 2022.
Kaiser Bengali:
I think it is also important to see how this fund will be utilized and how it will be implemented and whether the sociopolitical structures and the planning structures that need to be changed, made more effective happens.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
The 1,800-mile-long Indus River, lifeblood of Pakistan's agriculture sector, has been extensively engineered with dams and canals, beginning during British colonial times and ramping up in the 1960s with loans and advisers from international lending agencies.
Has it been, in terms of food production, a reasonably good investment?
Kaiser Bengali:
Certainly. Lands where not even a blade of grass grew now produce two crops a year. It's just that one has to manage this better.
Ahmed Kamal, Chairman, Pakistan Federal Flood Commission:
Governance structure is not good.
UK Adds 226 New Visa Categories to Urgently Hire Skilled Workers
https://propakistani.pk/2023/05/18/uk-adds-226-new-visa-categories-to-urgently-hire-skilled-workers/
Exciting opportunities have emerged for Pakistani youth seeking employment abroad as the United Kingdom opens its doors to skilled workers from around the world, including Pakistan.
In response to the severe manpower shortage currently faced by Britain, the country has introduced a significant expansion in its immigration policies.
According to official reports, a total of 226 new immigration categories have been established, accompanied by a noteworthy increase in the minimum wage across all job categories.
This development marks the first time that professions such as police officers, journalists, judges, secret officers, barristers, lawyers, and flight pilots have been included in the immigration category. Furthermore, an additional 31 categories have been designated, encompassing diverse fields such as musicians, dancers, doctors, actors, and scientists.
The expanded opportunities extend beyond specific professions, as drivers, instructors, railway station assistants, air hostesses, cabin crew, veterinary doctors, and tailors are now eligible to pursue employment in the UK. Moreover, individuals with expertise in areas such as masonry, aircraft engineering, AC/fridge engineering, welding, charity work, and estate agency will also find potential avenues for relocation.
Students pursuing education in the UK can now benefit from the post-study work facility, which allows them to gain valuable work experience following the completion of their studies. Notably, highly-educated professionals can anticipate a substantial 20 percent increase in their remuneration, as highlighted in the official letter.
To facilitate the approved manpower shortage category, the UK government has taken steps to keep visa fees at a reasonable level, ensuring accessibility for individuals seeking employment opportunities in the country.
These progressive changes in the UK’s immigration policies provide an encouraging prospect for skilled workers from Pakistan and around the world. The reduced visa fees and the inclusion of a diverse range of professions reflect the British government’s commitment to addressing the pressing shortage of manpower while simultaneously welcoming talented individuals to contribute to the country’s workforce.
Aspiring professionals from Pakistan are encouraged to explore these newfound possibilities, which not only promise career growth but also cultural exchange and personal development. The opportunities available in the UK cater to a wide spectrum of skills and talents, fostering an environment where individuals can thrive and make significant contributions to their chosen fields.
With these favorable policy revisions, Pakistanis can now embark on a transformative journey, utilizing their expertise to build successful careers and establish meaningful connections in the United Kingdom.
The UK has become one of the world’s most accepting places for foreign workers, according to a survey in 24 nations revealing a sharp increase in British acceptance of economic migration.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/23/uk-now-among-most-accepting-countries-for-foreign-workers-survey-finds
Shortfall of 330,000 workers in UK due to Brexit, say thinktanks
Read more
People in the UK emerged as less likely to think that when jobs are scarce employers should give priority to people of their own country than those in Norway, Canada, France, Spain, the US, Australia and Japan. Only Germany and Sweden were more open on that question.
In what the study’s authors described as “an extraordinary shift”, only 29% of people in the UK in 2022 said priority over jobs should go to local people, compared with 65% when the same question was asked in 2009.
The findings come as employers call for more migration to help fill more than 1m vacancies, and after the prime minister appointed the anti-immigration firebrand Lee Anderson as deputy chair of the Conservative party. He has called people arriving in small boats on the south coast “criminals” and called for them to be “sent back the same day”. Police have been deployed to hotels where asylum seekers are being housed amid violent protests by anti-immigration activists.
“It was unthinkable a decade ago that the UK would top any international league table for positive views of immigration,” said Prof Bobby Duffy, the director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, who shared the findings from the latest round of the survey exclusively with the Guardian and the BBC. “But that’s where we are now, with the UK the least likely, from a wide range of countries, to say we should place strict limits on immigration or prohibit it entirely.”
The UK ranked fourth out of 24 nations for the belief that immigrants have a very or quite good impact on the development of the country – ahead of Norway, Spain, the US and Sweden.
One factor in the shift in opinions on the question of “British jobs for British workers” may be that in 2009 the UK was in a deep recession, with more than double today’s unemployment, whereas today the economy suffers from a worker shortage, with 1.1m vacancies in the UK, 300,000 more than before the pandemic.
Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, last year urged employers to look to the British workforce in the first instance and “get local people”, although the government has widened visa programmes for seasonal workers and care staff.
Duffy said the findings showed that “it’s time to listen more carefully to public attitudes”. He said: “Politicians often misread public opinion on immigration. In the 2000s, Labour government rhetoric and policy on this issue was more relaxed than public preferences, and arguably they paid the price – but the current government is falling into the reverse trap.”
People in the UK are now the least likely of the 24 countries that participate in the World Values Survey study to think immigration increases unemployment, and second from top in thinking that immigrants fill important job vacancies.
They are very likely to say immigration boosts cultural diversity, and very unlikely to think immigration comes with crime and safety risks. However, more people in the UK think immigration leads to “social conflict” than in several other countries, including Canada, Japan and China.
Why Americans Are Having Fewer Babies - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-americans-are-having-fewer-babies-3be7f6a9
The number of babies born in the U.S. started plummeting 15 years ago and hasn’t recovered since. What looked at first like a temporary lull triggered by the 2008 financial crisis has stretched into a prolonged fertility downturn. Provisional monthly figures show that there were about 3.66 million babies born in the U.S. last year, a decline of 15% since 2007, even though there are 9% more women in their prime childbearing years.
The decline has demographers puzzled and economists worried. America’s longstanding geopolitical advantages, they say, are underpinned by a robust pool of young people. Without them, the U.S. economy will be weighed down by a worsening shortage of workers who can fill jobs and pay into programs like Social Security that care for the elderly. At the heart of the falling birthrate is a central question: Do American women simply want fewer children? Or are life circumstances impeding them from having the children that they desire?
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To maintain current population levels, the total fertility rate—a snapshot of the average number of babies women have over their lifetime—must stay at a “replacement rate” of 2.1 children per woman. In 2021, the U.S. rate was 1.66. Had fertility rates stayed at their 2007 peak, the U.S. would now have 9.6 million more kids, according to Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire.
Federal agencies are treating the slump like a temporary downturn. The Social Security Administration’s board of trustees projects that the total fertility rate will slowly climb to 2 by 2056 and hold there until the end of the century. Yet it’s been over a decade since fertility rates reached that level. Last year there were 2.8 workers for every Social Security recipient. That ratio is projected to shrink to 2.2 by 2045, roughly two-thirds what it was in 2000.
Some other developed countries are in a far deeper childbearing trough than the U.S. In South Korea, the total fertility rate hit a world record low of 0.84 in 2020 and has since sagged to 0.78. Italy’s rate slid to 1.24 last year. China’s population fell in 2022 for the first time in decades because its fertility rate has been far below the replacement rate for years. Its two-century reign as the world’s most populous country is expected to end this year when India overtakes it, if it hasn’t already.
In a recent note to clients, Neil Howe, a demographer at Hedgeye Risk Management, pointed to a World Bank report showing that the 2020s could be a second consecutive “lost decade” for global economic growth, in large part because of worsening demographics. By 2026 or 2027, he wrote, the growth rate of the working-age population in the entire high-income and emerging-market world will turn from slightly positive to slightly negative, reversing a durable driver of economic growth since the Industrial Revolution.
This shift will make the U.S. more dependent on immigration to supply enough workers to keep the economy humming. Immigrants accounted for 80% of U.S. population growth last year, census figures show, up from 35% just over a decade ago. Yet the number of young immigrant women coming to the U.S. has diminished, Johnson said, and the decline in fertility has been greatest among Hispanics.
Having fewer children has already changed the social fabric of the country’s schools, neighborhoods and churches. J.P. De Gance, president and founder of Communio, a nonprofit that helps churches encourage marriage, said that lower marriage and birth rates are one of the largest drivers of the decline in religious affiliation that’s left pews empty across the country. That matters for the whole community, De Gance said, because churches give lonely people a place to form friendships, as well as feeding hungry people and running schools that fill gaps in public education. “When that’s diminished, the entire culture’s diminished,” he said.
Indians and Pakistanis in Australia as per 2016 Census
Pakistanis
People 61,915
Male 37,720
Female 24,195
Australian citizen 42.3%
Not an Australian citizen 56.0%
https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2016/7106_0
Indians
People 455,388
Male 245,416
Female 209,972
Australian citizen 48.1%
Not an Australian citizen 50.8%
https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2016/7103_0
Improving language supports could increase stay rate of international students in Germany
https://monitor.icef.com/2022/03/improving-language-supports-could-increase-stay-rate-of-international-students-in-germany/
More than a quarter of surveyed students said that language difficulties had been challenging for them, and nearly as many said they had experienced challenges in meeting new friends and in finding accommodation. Feeling socially isolated may be especially pronounced among Indonesian, South Korean, Taiwanese, Pakistani, and Chinese students: more than 50% in those segments said they had felt, at least at one point, the desire to go back to their home country. Among Chinese students, this proportion rose to 70%.
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Short on time? Here are the highlights:
A survey of nearly 2,000 international students studying in Germany during the pandemic shows that many would like to remain in the country after graduating to work/immigrate or to progress to another level of study
The most challenging obstacles for these students are language barriers and difficulties in making new friends, suggesting a need for stronger international student supports at German universities
A 2021 Expatrio/DEGIS survey of nearly 2,000 international students who chose to study in Germany during the pandemic found that (1) most were drawn by the country’s no-tuition-fees policy and (2) more than half intended to stay in the country after their studies. That said, language barriers are a concern for many international students in Germany, including those who would like to stay on after graduation.
About the survey
The survey was conducted by Expatrio, a platform designed to support international students in Germany, while DEGIS is an organisation that helps international students to network and adjust to German culture.
Students from roughly 93 countries participated in the survey; most of them were studying for master’s degrees (67%). The survey was a follow-up to one conducted in 2020 and was larger than its predecessor, with 31% more student respondents. Responses were collected from August to October 2021 and reported in “Navigating the Pandemic: International Students’ Relocation to and Life in Germany 2021.”
Why do students choose Germany?
Surveyed students chose Germany primarily because of the country’s no-tuition-fees policy for all students in higher education (45%); employment opportunities were the next-most influential factor (18%), especially for Mexican and Brazilian respondents.
Why are Pakistanis so successful at finding jobs in Germany?
https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-pakistanis-so-successful-at-finding-jobs-in-germany/a-44083455
A recent study by Germany's Federal Employment Agency concluded that Pakistanis have been the most successful at finding work in the EU country over the past couple of years. DW examines the reasons behind their success.
Work as a coping mechanism
Ali is one of the nearly 30,000 Pakistani migrants who have arrived in Germany since 2015. He is also among the 40 percent of migrants from Pakistan who have managed to find a job in Europe's largest economy.
According to a recent study published by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), a special office of Germany's Federal Employment Agency, Pakistanis have been the most successful among all migrants in finding employment in Germany.
For Ali, being employed means more than just earning extra money. His brother in Pakistan passed away last month, and keeping busy at work here helped him cope with the loss.
He spent almost two years looking for any possible way to keep himself occupied and earn some extra money before he finally met Aleem Latif, who owns a successful restaurant in Bonn's old town, and who opened another in nearby Siegburg last year.
"Because of the language barrier and the lack of recognized skills, it is hard for Pakistani migrants to find jobs in other sectors. I hired Ali as I knew that he can be trained," Latif told DW. "We have Pakistani students working with us and many students looking for part-time jobs. So there was obviously an element of empathy in hiring a migrant, which requires a lot of paper work."
German — EU citizens still get priority
According to federal legislation, German and European Union citizens are given priority in the job market. Non-EU citizens, on the other hand, are only granted permission to work certain jobs for which German or EU citizens are not available. This requirement was partially suspended in 2016 to enhance the employment chances for refugees whose asylum applications had been accepted in Germany.
Coupled with other factors, these regulations are one of the reasons why migrants from Pakistan primarily get permission to work in Indian or Pakistani restaurants.
Danyal Ali Rizwan is another Pakistani migrant who is currently living in an asylum center in the town of Neumarkt in the southern German state of Bavaria. Rizwan comes from the volatile Parachinar region located on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rizwan told DW that he worked for a year at an Indian restaurant. "Later I found a job in another local company. However, the Federal Employment Agency did not give me permission to work there and since then, I do not have a job," he said.
Acceptance quota declining
According to the EU statistics office, Eurostat, 28,395 Pakistani migrants applied for asylum in Germany between 2015 and 2017. Over 15,000 of those asylum applications were submitted to German authorities in 2016 alone.
Over 90 percent of Pakistani asylum seekers are men, with women roughly making up the remaining 10 percent. Most Pakistani asylum seekers are young males, with almost 74 percent of them being between 18 and 34 years old.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Pakistani interpreter working with Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) claimed that the majority of Pakistanis seeking refuge in Germany are economic migrants, primarily from the South Asian nation's Punjab province.
Of the asylum applications filed by Pakistanis between 2015 and 2017, only 5.4 percent were approved in the first instance.
The acceptance ratio among male applicants between the ages of 18 and 34 was even lower at 2.7 percent. In 2014, just before the start of the refugee crisis in Europe, over 27 percent of Pakistani migrants successfully obtained asylum in Germany.
Aging Japan wants foreign workers, but will they come?
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/Aging-Japan-wants-foreign-workers-but-will-they-come
TOKYO -- With Japan's population shrinking, the world's third-largest economy is becoming more serious about accepting foreign workers.
Yet various factors -- from the country's sluggish wage growth and old corporate cultures to Asian peers' new visa programs and rising pay levels in emerging economies -- pose challenges to Japan's efforts, clouding its prospects in an age of global talent competition.
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Yamada of the Japan Research Institute said developed nations are scrambling to attract IT talent, "but Japan lags behind because of its lower pay."
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the average wage in Japan rose only 3% between 2001 and 2021. That compares poorly to South Korea's 40% and the U.S.'s 29% in the same period. The median salary for software engineers in Japan last year was 23% lower than that of Singapore and 17% lower than in Seoul, according to data from Levels.fyi, an online site that compares tech salaries.
Elsewhere in the region, the race to attract foreign talent has been intensifying after the COVID-19 pandemic, with many jurisdictions offering new programs. Singapore this year launched a new visa to lure highly skilled professionals, allowing those earning at least 30,000 Singapore dollars ($22,000) a month to stay five years and work for multiple employers.
Thailand and Malaysia are among the other nations that also have introduced new visa programs permitting longer stays by professionals in areas like electric vehicles and investment. Elsewhere, highly skilled workers are increasingly wanted, reflecting digital transformations and the emergence of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
An OECD study on migrant workers published in March found that New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland are the most attractive countries for highly skilled workers. The study took into account factors such as educational standards, ease of obtaining citizenship for children of migrants and English proficiency as drivers attracting talent from abroad.
Greece shipwreck highlights Pakistan human smuggling woes
Hundreds still missing after migrant vessel capsizes in Mediterranean Sea
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Greece-shipwreck-highlights-Pakistan-human-smuggling-woes#
About 40,000 Pakistanis a year leave the country through unofficial channels. Up to 90% of Pakistani migrants who reached Italy relied on smugglers and other illegal means, according to the Mixed Migration Centre, a Europe-based research group.
Some 34,000 were deported back to Pakistan last year from Europe, but that has not stopped the smugglers, who advertise widely on social media. Known by their slang name "dunkers," the smugglers can be found on Facebook offering to transport migrants overland from Pakistan to Turkey for between 200,000 and 400,000 rupees ($700 and $1,400) each.
Pakistani immigration lawyer Ahmed Jamal told Nikkei that human smugglers ply different routes to reach Europe, depending on how much they are paid. Most of the migrants on the capsized vessel are thought to come from the northern region of Kashmir, with some paying up to 2.3 million rupees to smugglers, local media reported.
"Those who pay high amounts are flown to North Africa legally, and from there transported to Europe on ships," Jamal said. Pakistanis who can't afford the flight to North Africa are often transported by a perilous land route to Greece, via Iran and Turkey.
The suspected smugglers in last week's disaster are expected to face manslaughter charges in Greece, while Pakistan said it has arrested a dozen suspects since the sinking.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for countries to clamp down on human trafficking in the wake of the tragedy, but the smuggling problem in Pakistan is driven by more than economic woes and weak law enforcement.
Corrupt officials willing to look the other way in exchange for bribes is another key issue, according to a former immigration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He told Nikkei that his efforts to crack down on smuggling rackets got him quickly transferred.
The government should step up its monitoring of travel consultants and how passports are issued in districts hit hardest by the migrant exodus, said the immigration lawyer, Jamal, adding that Islamabad must reach out for technical assistance.
"Developed countries will provide all possible help to Pakistan for preventing illegal migration because it's in their national interest," he added.
In missing submersible and migrant disaster, a tale of two Pakistans
https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/06/21/titanic-submersible-greece-migrant-ship-pakistan/
On social media, some Pakistanis pointed to the grim spectacle of compatriots from opposite ends of a great socioeconomic divide disappearing in the watery depths at the same time. Pakistan is in the middle of a devastating economic crisis, with the rate of inflation at a 50-year high, food shortages, energy blackouts and mounting unemployment. The conditions have compelled numerous people, especially among the poor, to seek a better life abroad.
“The desperate situation has led to the mushrooming growth of people smugglers in Pakistan,” wrote Zahid Shahab Ahmed, a senior research fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization in Australia. “In exchange for large sums of money, they offer people transportation, fake documentation and other resources for a swift departure from the country.”
“It is bad enough that the spectacular failure of the government to fulfill its part of the social contract by providing economic security to its citizens drives desperate individuals — even the educated ones — to leave the country,” noted a Monday editorial in Dawn, a Pakistani daily, further lamenting that “an inept, uncaring government has made little effort to crack down on a vast network of human smugglers who fleece desperate individuals and put them on a path strewn with hazards.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared Monday a national day of mourning, while authorities in various parts of the country arrested people suspected of links to human-trafficking networks. “Our thoughts and prayers are with you, and we pray that the departed souls find eternal peace,” the chairman of Pakistan’s Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, said, vowing to take on the people smugglers.
That may be cold comfort to many Pakistanis, who live in what by some measures is South Asia’s most unequal society, one long dominated by influential, quasi-feudal potentates. Sharif himself is a scion of a political dynasty that also has huge business interests.
Grief shrouds remote Pakistan mountain village after Greece migrant boat tragedy
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/21/asia/pakistan-greece-boat-tragedy-kashmir-village-intl-hnk/index.html
Bandali, Pakistan-administered Kashmir
CNN
—
An air of melancholy engulfs the small village of Bandali in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where hopes are fading fast for nearly two dozen residents who went abroad in search of a better life and have since disappeared.
Families fight back tears as they yearn to hear what may have happened to their loved ones – all migrants aboard the boat, reportedly known as the Adriana, an overcrowded fishing trawler that capsized off the coast of Greece last week, killing at least 81 people and leaving hundreds more missing.
In Pakistan, authorities said more than 300 of its nationals died in the tragedy, but did not specify how they received the information. On Thursday, the Federal Investigation Agency of Pakistan said it has confirmed 92 deaths in the incident by collecting DNA samples of family members who reported their loved ones as missing to assist with the identification of victims.
Bandali, population 12,000, is just one of many Pakistani communities reeling from the disaster – about 22 people from this village alone remain unaccounted for, according to residents.
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Jabbar, 36, paid a human trafficker more than $7,500 in the hope of making it to Italy, traversing thousands of miles across dangerous routes from his home country to give his young daughters a better future, Anwar told CNN. Jabbar left his two daughters in the village while he went ahead with the journey.
Pakistan, a nation of about 220 million, is in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades. Work is scarce; inflation is soaring; and essentials including food and fuel are increasingly costly.
The precise route Jabbar and his three family members took is unclear. But they arrived in Libya days before boarding the ill-fated boat there, aiming for their final destination: Italy.
Phone conversations between Anwar and Jabbar in the days leading up to the tragedy highlight the grim conditions faced by those making a trip controlled by a lucrative and all too often merciless network of international smugglers.
Former US President Obama slams Western hypocrisy over migrants
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/former-us-president-obama-slams-western-hypocrisy-over-migrants/2929144
That more attention is being paid to Titanic submersible than migrant boat sinking off Greece is ‘rotten,’ he says
Ahmet Gencturk |
Former US President Barack Obama on Thursday slammed the hypocrisy of Western media concerning migrants and particularly in reference to the recent sinking of a migrant boat off southwestern Greece in which at least 82 people died and hundreds more are feared to have drowned.
The fact that more attention is being paid to a submersible carrying five people that vanished off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada while on a tour of the Titanic’s wreckage than the migrant boat sinking off Greece with up to 700 people on board is “rotten,” he said during an appearance in the Greek capital Athens. He came to participate in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Nostos 2023 conference.
“That's an untenable situation. And, you know, the notion that we can't do something about that is simply not true. We know we can do things for these people," Obama said in reference to the migrant flow to developed countries.
Pakistanis in Italy
https://www.integrazionemigranti.gov.it/AnteprimaPDF.aspx?id=2924#:~:text=Overall%2C%20between%202010%20and%202018,in%20Italy%20as%20a%20whole).
Overall, between 2010 and 2018, almost 20,000 Pakistani children were born in Italy. 22,075 Pakistani students enrolled for academic year 2019/2020 (3.2% of the non-EU school population in Italy as a whole).
As to transfers (remittances) made by the Pakistanis in Italy to their country of origin, over 408 million euros were sent to
Pakistan in 2019 (approx. 8% of the total remittances sent to non-EU countries). Pakistan ranks third in terms
of remittances sent from Italy, after Bangladesh and the Philippines. Compared to 2018, there was a 15.2%
increase in remittances sent to Pakistan.
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MILAN:
The Pakistani diaspora in Italy of around 150,000 people is the largest in continental Europe. Most Pakistanis living in Italy are first-generation immigrants with limited education and are stuck working menial jobs picking fruit and vegetables, managing livestock, and working in factories.
But a new generation of Pakistani is coming of age, and they are set to have a different experience from their parents. Many of them were born in Italy or arrived as children; They have high school diplomas and university degrees and are working to build a life for themselves in Italy, which comes with a unique set of challenges.
Pakistani youth that have grown up in Italy are often sandwiched between two worlds, which can become a major source of friction. Social norms and religious values among young people in the Pakistani diaspora differ from their parents and grandparents, resulting in inter-generational conflicts. Young women bear the brunt of the trauma from these familial clashes as they become the victims of violence and murder in the most extreme circumstances for their behaviour.
In addition to family conflict, young Pakistanis must deal with barriers from the bureaucratic machinery of the Italian Government. As they reach adulthood, they need to get a tax code and a health card, and they need to register with the local municipality. When they start working, they need to negotiate with employers about terms and conditions of employment, decide if they want to be a full-time employee or a service provider, and start filing tax returns.
For people from Italy navigating these processes in their native language, transitioning into working life is relatively straightforward; They have friends and family members to guide them and a network of trade unions to provide them with services. But for young Pakistanis, these steps can be daunting and mistakes costly if they result in sanctions and fines.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2350726/pakistanis-in-italy-searching-for-belonging-on-foreign-shores
PAKISTANI NATIONALS IN EUROPE 2021
– A MULTIPLE SOURCE SNAPSHOT
https://dtm.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1461/files/reports/PAK_2021_Migrant%20Presence_Europe.pdf
According to the 2020 International Migrant Stock compiled by UNDESA4, a total of 952,993 Pakistani nationals resided in Europe in 2020. Fifty-eight per cent of them were male and forty-two percent were female.
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NUMBER OF PAKISTANI MALES AND FEMALES IN EUROPE, UNDESA - 2020
European Countries Total Migrants Male Female
Denmark 14,318 7,503 6,815
Estonia 261 195 66
Finland 3,134 2,090 1,044
Iceland 94 69 25
Ireland 10,570 6,667 3,903
Latvia 228 204 24
Lithuania 7 3 4
Norway 21,140 10,853 10,287
Sweden 16,597 9,891 6,706
United Kingdom 537,047 282,645 254,402
Greece 8,823 4,435 4,388
Italy 124,800 89,557 35,243
Malta 549 300 249
Portugal 2,217 1,469 748
Slovenia 42 31 11
Spain 63,819 41,074 22,745
Austria 6,097 4,076 2,021
Belgium 13,246 8,143 5,103
France 27,203 16,341 10,862
Germany 79,227 53,993 25,234
Liechtenstein 7 5 2
Luxembourg 279 169 110
Switzerland 5,381 3,304 2,077
The Netherlands 14,104 8,030 6,074
Bulgaria 290 182 108
Hungary 1,055 780 275
Poland 278 257 21
Romania 625 438 187
Russia 726 579 147
Slovakia 122 110 12
The Czech Republic 662 501 161
After UK, Italy hosts biggest Indian diaspora in Europe
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/after-uk-italy-hosts-biggest-indian-diaspora-in-europe/articleshow/74764808.cms
While the entire global media attention is on China’s inroads in Italy, it is a lesser known fact that around 200,000 Indians, including students resided in Italy at the time of the virus outbreak. From better working and living conditions to higher education opportunities, Italy has attracted many Indians over the past 20 years. The small and medium scale industries in Italy have also attracted Indian entrepreneurs. As a tourist destination with smooth and direct connectivity, Italy has attracted a lot of Indians.
In his book ‘India Moving: A History of Migration’, Chinmay Tumbe, an IIM-Ahmedabad faculty member and author says: “The total number of Indians in Italy has now crossed 200,000, making it the largest Indian diaspora in Continental Europe and far greater than the 30,000 estimated in Spain. This Indian contingent is mainly made up of Punjabi Jat Sikhs. These people toil away in the dairy and agricultural sectors of northern Italy. They are now known as “cow--milkers” or bergamini, in Italian…Apart from Punjabis, Roman Catholic Keralites can also be found working in the domestic service sector in and around Rome.” Official figures from both sides put the figure of the Indian community, including the diaspora, at around 180,000. In northern and central Italy, Indians are spread across the large cities of Rome, Florence, Milan, Turin, Bologna and Parma and are engaged in running small factories and small businesses. Ranjit Singh Singh, who went to Italy from Punjab in 1993, now runs an auto parts factory in the north Italian city of Cremona and employs 30 workers –– all of whom are from India.
Why #Indians don't want to be Indian #citizens anymore? More than 1.6 million Indians have renounced their Indian citizenship since 2011, including a whopping 225,620 in 2022 alone, averaging around 618 per day. #Modi #BJP #Hindutva
#chaos #anarchy
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/migrate/why-indians-dont-want-to-be-indian-citizens-anymore/articleshow/101418122.cms
"The principal reason why people migrate is economic well being. Everyone wants a better life and their hope is that they would find it in another country," Amit Dasgupta, former Consul-General of India in Sydney, told IANS.
"In sociology, this is referred to as 'the push factor'. You are pushed out to a place which offers better prospects," Dasgupta said.Many Indian students who go for higher studies abroad also end up settling there as these countries provide them better jobs with attractive pay scales.According to the latest Education Ministry data, more than 770,000 Indian students went abroad to study in 2022 -- a six-year high.
Also, many Indian students find it tough to find jobs after returning home, which is why they apply for permanent residency in their country of study.
More than 90 per cent of the students do not wish to come back to India, say estimates.When it comes to India's rich, they want to swim in foreign waters to diversify their fortune, set up alternative residencies, conduct business and pursue a better quality of life even though India continues to be an attractive environment for business activity and corporate growth.
A 2020 Global Wealth Migration Review report said that among many reasons why people make the decision to migrate to other countries is safety of women and children, lifestyle factors like climate and pollution, financial concerns including taxes, better healthcare for families and educational opportunities for children, and to escape oppressive governments.A low passport score of a country can also make individuals emigrate.
A higher passport index ranking ensures one gets better access to travel visa-free to many countries.The Indian passport registered the largest global fall in the Passport Index 2023 -- ranking at 144th position this year with a mobility score of 70.
This means Indians can travel to 21 countries visa-free, and need a visa for 128 countries.In contrast, a Greece or Portugal residency card provides Indians visa-free travel across all Schengen countries.
‘For Them I Am a Prey’: The Hidden Exploitation of Punjabi Women in Italy
https://www.vice.com/en/article/3adkp8/exploitation-punjabi-women-italy
In the heart of Italy’s farming industry, less than 100 kilometres from Rome, women of Punjabi origin face exploitation and workplace harassment.
Amrita has lived and worked in Italy’s farms half her life. The 30-year-old was born in the state of Punjab, India, where many in her community dream of a better life in Europe. When she was 15, she got the golden ticket and landed in Italy’s farming heartland, only 100 kilometres from Rome.
But the dreams she sought turned into a nightmare when she started facing workplace harassment while packaging tomatoes at an agricultural cooperative in Italy.
“To them, I am a prey, not a person. When you are a woman, especially an immigrant, alone and with a child, men — both Italians and Indians — feel free to torment you,” she told VICE World News.
Two years ago, Amrita’s husband abandoned her and their son and returned to India, where he remarried without divorcing her. While she was trying to come to terms with the shock and her new responsibilities as a single mother, she says she faced unprecedented harassment at work. “They see you alone, even on the street, and start stalking you,” she said. “If you are a single woman, they dub you as someone who is ‘easy’ and consequently, you end up being harassed.” Amrita and other women who spoke with VICE World News requested the use of pseudonyms for their safety.
More than 26,500 Indian women work in Italy, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. Like Amrita, many of them are Punjabi and work in the agricultural cooperatives of Agro Pontino.
A former marsh, Agro Pontino was controversially cleared of small communities and made into well-planned farming towns by Benito Mussolini in the 1920s and 1930s. The 200,000-acre area now supplies fruit, vegetables and flowers to businesses and supermarkets across Europe.
Amrita filed several complaints against men she worked with through Tempi Moderni, a nonprofit in Agro Pontino that helps farmers fight for their rights.
“The legal battle keeps getting delayed and is proving to be exhausting. It is causing me severe depression,” she said.
But Amrita is one of the fortunate ones – her legal status in Italy allows her to pursue legal action. Many immigrant Punjabi women working in agricultural cooperatives in Agro Pontino are exploited and harassed with impunity by gangster-slash-agents, known in Italian as caporali or capos.
The capos act as informal and illegal intermediaries used by farm owners to recruit and manage hundreds of workers, including undocumented immigrants, on Italian farms. Many capos are of Indian origin, and Punjabi women face serious exploitation from them. Since many cannot afford to lose their jobs, the capos have power to control, subjugate and harass them. In particular, the capos are known to harass and exploit Punjabi women in exchange for fair wages and renewed contracts.
Punjabi women VICE World News spoke to said many Indian capos harass them, inside and outside their cooperatives.
“As long as you entertain them, you stay in their good books, otherwise, you are blacklisted. Being blacklisted can often translate into isolation, being assigned some of the worst jobs such as packing vegetables or working in the open fields under harsh weather conditions for hours, failure to renew contract and, finally, dismissal, which also means an end of the residence permit,” Amrita said.
‘For Them I Am a Prey’: The Hidden Exploitation of Punjabi Women in Italy
https://www.vice.com/en/article/3adkp8/exploitation-punjabi-women-italy
The community of agricultural workers in Agro Pontino is made up largely of Indian Punjabis, who began to settle in its towns Aprilia, Latina, Sabaudia and Terracina at the end of the 1980s to work in Agro Pontino’s agriculture and livestock sectors. Punjabi women arrived years after the men, during the first half of the 2000s. According to the 2022 interim report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on Working Conditions in Italy, many Punjabis find themselves in conditions of exploitation that can be compared to slavery in Italy.
Explaining this phenomenon as a “well-established system of importing low-cost labour” that starts from Punjab in India, Giovanni Gioia, secretary of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) of Frosinone and Latina said, “The paradox is that these Punjabis do not want to work on their own lands in India and are on the lookout to emigrate by any means. In the hope of improving their condition, they get into debt with traffickers both at home and in Italy.”
Tempi Moderni was the first organisation to unveil the system of labour exploitation and trafficking of human beings in Agro Pontino in 2010.
“When we started our research, we discovered that the Punjabi community were not only paid less than a euro an hour, but were forced to work up to 12-14 hours in the greenhouse every day of the month,” Marco Omizzolo, the vice president of Tempi Moderni, told VICE World News.
According to the NGO WeWorld, the working and social conditions of Punjabi women in Italy are harsher and more prohibitive compared to those of Punjabi men.
Indian women are recruited only if there is a need for extra workers and are paid 30 percent less than what men earn. That means that if a male worker makes 4.50 euros an hour, a woman worker is offered only 3 euros an hour. Some women are also not properly compensated for the hours they work.
Many Punjabi women don’t speak up about workplace harassment out of fear of how their family will react. “If a man wants to call out workplace harassment, he can complain about the same, but if a woman wants to raise a grievance, she is advised by male family members to stay silent and give up the job instead,” Omizzolo of Tempi Moderni told VICE World News.
Women also “experience specific kinds of workplace exploitation” such as “sexual blackmail, violence and marginalization,” Omizzolo added. In some farming cooperatives, warehouses have been discovered where bosses and capos have sexually harassed Punjabi women labourers. In other cases, documented by the CGIL and Tempi Moderni, the capos demanded sexual favours to renew contracts or settle outstanding wages.
VICE World News visited a Sikh Gurudwara in Sabaudia town in Agro Pontino to interview women workers. While most agreed that sexual exploitation was rampant, there was silence around individual experiences. The most common response was: “This has never happened to me, but I know many women who have faced sexual exploitation.”
Everyone Knew the Migrant Ship Was Doomed. No One Helped. - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/world/europe/greece-migrant-ship.html
Greek authorities claim the doomed migrant ship "was sailing to Italy, and that the migrants did not want to be rescued. But satellite imagery and tracking data" show it "was drifting in a loop for its last 6-1/2 half hours" as passengers called for help.
Satellite imagery, sealed court documents and interviews with survivors suggest that hundreds of deaths were preventable.
Collectively paying as much as $3.5 million to be smuggled to Italy, migrants crammed into the Adriana in what survivors recalled was a hellish class system: Pakistanis at the bottom; women and children in the middle; and Syrians, Palestinians and Egyptians at the top.
An extra $50 or so could earn someone a spot on the deck. For some, that turned out to be the difference between life and death.
Many of the passengers, at least 350, came from Pakistan, the Pakistani government said. Most were in the lower decks and the ship’s hold. Of them, 12 survived.
The women and young children went down with the ship.
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Haseeb ur-Rehman, 20, a motorcycle mechanic from the Pakistan-administrated Kashmir, felt he had to leave home to help his family survive. Together with three friends, he paid $8,000 and left for Libya.
He was one of the few Pakistanis who managed to snatch a spot on deck.
The journey, if all went well, would take three days.
As early as the second day, survivors recalled, the engine started breaking down.
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Unrest spread as it became clear that the captain, who was spending most of his time on a satellite phone, had lost his way.
When Pakistanis pushed toward the upper deck, Egyptian men working with the captain beat them, often with a belt, according to testimony. Those men, some of whom are among the nine arrested in Greece, emerged as enforcers of discipline.
Ahmed Ezzat, 26, from the Nile Delta, was among them. He is accused of smuggling people and causing the shipwreck. In an interview, his brother, Islam Ezzat, said that Ahmed disappeared from their village in mid-May and re-emerged in Libya weeks later. He said a smuggler had sent someone to the family home to collect 140,000 Egyptian pounds, or $4,500, the standard fee for a spot on the Adriana.
Islam said he did not believe Ahmed had been involved in the smuggling because he had paid the fee. He said the family was cooperating with the Egyptian authorities. Ahmed, like the others who have been charged, has pleaded not guilty.
Pakistani Student Enrollment In Germany Soars By 30%
https://thefridaytimes.com/24-Nov-2023/pakistani-student-enrollment-in-germany-soars-by-30-percent
The educational landscape in Germany sees a dynamic transformation as Pakistani student enrollment surges by an impressive 30 percent. Statistics from the academic years 2020–21 to 2022–23 revealed a growth from 6,403 to 8,208 Pakistani students.
The German higher education sector, boasting a total enrollment of 458,210 international students as of 2022-2023, stands witness to this remarkable influx. Among these students, the discipline of engineering emerges as a beacon, with 145,707 individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds immersing themselves in the technical realms of innovation and progress.
Italian Navy aircraft carrier makes first visit to Pakistan - Pakistan - DAWN.COM
The Italian Navy Carrier Strike Group, composed of the aircraft carrier Cavour and the frigate Alpino, arrived in Karachi on Monday and will be anchored there until Wednesday.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1865309
“The presence of the Italian Carrier Strike Group in the Indo-Pacific region testifies to Italy’s commitment to deepening cooperation with valued partner countries such as Pakistan, ensuring the security of international maritime routes.”
“Italy considers Pakistan a strategic partner for the security of the region. Defence plays a key role in our bilateral relations. Our country has been a loyal participant in the Aman Exercises, and our defence industries have always been present at the IDEAS fairs.”
“This year, I will join them, along with a delegation from our Ministry of Defence, for the next edition of IDEAS coming up in November,” she said.
“And it doesn’t end there. In December, our iconic sailing ship, the Amerigo Vespucci, will also dock here in Karachi,” she added.
“We have a large Pakistani community in Italy. Trade between our two countries currently amounts to two billion dollars, but there is potential for improvement. Data shows it could even increase to five billion dollars,” she said.
Rear Admiral Stefano Barbieri of the Italian Navy spoke on the occasion, stating that the first operational campaign of the Italian Carrier Strike Group in the Indo-Pacific region is a strategic initiative of Italian Defence to promote defence capabilities in the area.
“The dynamics of defence in the Indo-Pacific region can affect free trade of goods and services, as well as overall trade relations with the Mediterranean Sea,” he said.
“The deployment of the Carrier Strike Group in the Indo-Pacific region allows Italian Defence to strengthen and consolidate strategic protection with viable capabilities well beyond the usual area of operations. Controlling the sea and keeping maritime lines and communication open is crucial,” he stressed.
The Commanding Officer of the Carrier Strike Group, Rear Admiral Giancarlo Ciappina, said he was glad to be working with Italy’s allies. “Our presence here sends a strong message of cohesion with our allies and like-minded partners,” he said.
Germany is Launching Opportunity Card for Foreigners Looking for Jobs
https://propakistani.pk/2024/04/22/germany-is-launching-opportunity-card-for-foreigners-looking-for-jobs/
Germany is set to introduce the Opportunity Card in June 2024, a new program aimed at facilitating employment for qualified non-EU citizens in the country. This initiative is designed to streamline the process for skilled job seekers, enhancing their ability to explore job opportunities and engage in flexible work arrangements.
The Opportunity Card represents a significant shift in Germany’s approach to immigration for skilled workers. It simplifies the existing qualification requirements, allowing individuals to enter the job market more efficiently. The card enables holders to look for jobs, participate in work trials, and if necessary, extend their stay in Germany.
The new system reduces the complexities often encountered in the bureaucratic process. Here are the key aspects of the qualification process for the Opportunity Card:
Qualification Recognition:
The card is accessible to individuals whose skills and qualifications are recognized in Germany, eliminating the need for additional special requirements.
Educational Criteria:
Eligible applicants include those with a foreign university degree, a vocational qualification of at least two years recognized by their home country, or a vocational qualification issued by a German Chamber of Commerce Abroad.
Language Proficiency:
Applicants must demonstrate language proficiency, requiring at least an A1 CEFR level in German or a B2 CEFR level in English.
Point-Based Evaluation System
The Opportunity Card uses a point-based system to assess eligibility. Points are allocated based on various factors such as the recognition of qualifications, language skills, professional experience, age, connections to Germany, and the potential involvement of partners or spouses. Applicants need to achieve a minimum of six points to be eligible.
Advantages of Holding the Opportunity Card
The Opportunity Card offers numerous benefits that facilitate a smoother transition into the German job market:
Ease of Job Search: The card allows holders to bypass lengthy recognition processes, enabling them to immediately start looking for employment.
Flexible Work Arrangements: Holders are permitted to undertake work trials and can engage in secondary employment for up to 20 hours per week.
Extension Possibility: In cases where holders are offered eligible employment but cannot secure another resident title, the card can be extended for up to an additional two years.
Germany’s Intentions
The Opportunity Card is a strategic initiative by the German government to attract skilled workers and simplify their entry into one of Europe’s leading economies. It provides a streamlined pathway for engaging with the job market without the necessity of a pre-arranged job contract, thereby offering job seekers valuable time to find suitable employment.
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