European Union: Fastest Growing Source of Remittances to Pakistan

[Riaz Haq]

Remittances from the European Union (EU) to Pakistan soared 49.7% in FY 21 and 28.3% in FY22, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. With $2.5 billion remittances in the first 9 months (July-March) of the current fiscal year, the EU ($2.5 billion) has now surpassed North America ($2.2 billion) to become the third largest source of inflows to Pakistan after the Middle East and the United Kingdom. Remittances from the US have grown 21%, second fastest after the EU (28.3%) in the first 9  months of the current fiscal year. 

Country-wise Remittance Inflows in Pakistan. Source: State Bank of ...

Pakistanis in European Union: 

The population of Pakistan-born migrants to European Union countries has been growing in recent years. With over 120,000 Pakistani migrants, Italy is the most popular destination for Pakistanis in the EU. 

Italy is followed by Germany with 75,495 Pakistani migrants. Then comes Spain with 61,953 migrants, France 21,900 (2017), Sweden 11,674, Denmark 10,669, Ireland 7,351 (2016), Belgium 5,927, Portugal 5,310, Norway 5,157, Netherlands 4,723 and Austria 4,112. There are smaller populations of Pakistanis in several other European countries. 

Pakistan-born Migrants in European Union. Source: OECD

With $5.74 billion in the first 9 months of current fiscal year FY22, Saudi Arabia remains the top source of remittances to Pakistan, followed by $4.28 billion from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, the Saudi remittances are essentially flat while those from the UAE have declined 5.3% in this period.  Pakistani diaspora is sending home over $30 billion a year, about 10% of the country's GDP. It is badly needed foreign exchange to balance Pakistan's external accounts.  

Pakistanis in Italy. Source: Italian Government

Pakistan's Worldwide Diaspora:

Over 10 million Pakistanis are currently working/living overseas, according to the Bureau of Emigration. Before the COVID19 pandemic hit in 2020,  more than 600,000 Pakistanis left the country to work overseas in 2019. The average yearly outflow of Pakistani workers to OECD countries (mainly UK and US) and the Middle East has been over half a million in the last decade.  

 

Pakistan’s economy created 5.5 million domestic jobs during the past three years –on an average 1.84 million jobs a year, which is far higher than yearly average of creation of new jobs during the 2008-18 decade, according to the Labor Force Survey (LFS) published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). 

Worker Remittances as Percentage of Pakistan GDP. Source: World Bank

Pakistan ranks 6th among the top worker remittance recipient countries in the world.  India and China rank first and second, followed by Mexico 3rd, the Philippines 4th, Egypt 5th and Pakistan 6th.  

 

Pakistan Demographics

Pakistan's Demographic Dividend: 

About two million Pakistanis are entering the workforce every year. The share of the working age population in Pakistan is increasing while the birth rate is declining. This phenomenon, known as demographic dividend, is coinciding with declines in working age populations in developed countries. It is creating an opportunity for over half a million Pakistani workers to migrate and work overseas, and send home record remittances. These overseas Pakistanis are now sending home over $30 billion a year, about 10% of the country's GDP. It is badly needed foreign exchange to balance Pakistan's external accounts.  

Projected Population Decline in Emerging Economies. Source: Nikkei ...

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[Riaz Haq]

Germany is hoping to combat its shortage of skilled workers with a new ‘opportunity card’.

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/09/06/skilled-workers-are-in-d...

The ‘chancenkarte’ will use a points system to enable workers with required skills to come to Germany more easily.

It is part of a strategy proposed by Labour Minister Hubertus Heil to address the country’s labour shortages, which is due to be presented to the government this autumn.


Every year, quotas will be set depending on which industries need workers. Three out of four of the following criteria must also be met to apply for the scheme:

A degree or vocational training recognised by Germany
Three years’ professional experience
Language skills or a previous stay in Germany
Under 35 years old
Currently, most non-EU citizens need to have a job offer before they can relocate to Germany. A visa for job seekers already exists, but the 'chancenkarte' is expected to make it easier and faster for people looking to find work in Germany.

Citizens of certain countries with visa agreements can already enter Germany for 90 days visa-free but are only permitted to take up short-term employment.

The opportunity card will allow people to come and look for a job or apprenticeship while in the country rather than applying from abroad. Applicants must be able to prove they can afford to pay their living expenses in the mean time.

The exact details of the scheme are yet to be formalised.

Why does Germany need to attract skilled workers?
This year, the shortage of skilled workers in Germany has risen to an all time high. Earlier this year, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) found 1.74 million vacant positions throughout the country.

In July, staff shortages affected almost half of all companies surveyed by Munich-based research institute IFO, forcing them to slow down their operations.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistani migrants in Europe

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. The number of Pakistani nationals in each European country in 2020 is shown in Annex 1, together with gender-disaggregated numbers. UNDESA estimates the number and composition of migrants on the basis of data obtained from population censuses, population registers and national surveys. The dataset provides estimates of the international migrant stock by age, sex and origin for the mid-point (1 July) of each year: 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020.

https://migration.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1461/files/reports/PA...

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

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistanis in Italy

https://www.integrazionemigranti.gov.it/AnteprimaPDF.aspx?id=2924#:...).

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-...

[Riaz Haq]

PAKISTANI NATIONALS IN EUROPE 2021
– A MULTIPLE SOURCE SNAPSHOT

https://dtm.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1461/files/reports/PAK_2021...

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

[Riaz Haq]

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...

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.

[Riaz Haq]

39,748 Schengen visas issued to Pakistanis going to European Union countries in 2022

https://statistics.schengenvisainfo.com/

About 11,000 visas to Germany

About 7,000 visas to Spain

About 5,800 to Italy

About 5,300 to France

About 2,900 to The Netherlands

About 1500 to Sweden

About 1,300 to Switzerland

About 1,100 to Denmark

About 1,045 to Belgium