Pakistan’s manpower export to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) amounted to 1.2 million from 2019 to November 2021, as per official documents.
As per the document, Saudi Arabia stood at the top of the list, with 588,379 Pakistani workers emigrating to the kingdom over three years. UAE saw the second-highest number of emigrants with 281,063. Oman stood at third, with 69,301, Qatar at fourth with 58,930, Bahrain at fifth with 27,079, and Kuwait stood at the sixth position with 1,539, the document revealed.
While manpower export to the GCC was witnessing a declining trend from 2016 onwards, where the total number of emigrants stood at 821,262, 2019 was the year that spelled good news for Pakistan’s workforce export. In 2019, 599,962 Pakistani nationals registered for employment in the GCC.
Saudi Arabia once again saw the highest number of emigrants in GCC, with 332,713 individuals. UAE stood at second with 211,216. Oman saw 28,391 emigrants, Qatar 19,327, Bahrain 8,189, and Kuwait 126, stated the document.
The document showed that during 2020, the number of emigrants to GCC stood at 215,627. Saudi Arabia saw 1,36,339 emigrants, UAE 53,676, Oman 10,336, Qatar 7,421, Bahrain, 7,843 and Kuwait 15.
As per the document, the figures for 2021, up till November, stood at 210,702. Saudi Arabia stood at the top with 119,330 emigrants whereas U.A.E, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait saw 16,171, 30,574, 32,182, 11,047, and 1,398 emigrants, respectively.
According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, the main reason for the declining proportion of the Pakistani workforce in GCC countries was the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in flight restrictions, vaccination requirements, and economic downturn.
The documents reveal that over 100,000 permissions accorded by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BE&OE) could not be materialized due to the pandemic. The documents state that after the resumption of flights and diplomatic efforts, October and November 2021 witnessed an increase in the number of workers traveling to Gulf states for work and employment.
The officials, while talking to ProPakistani, remarked that COVID was one aspect, another aspect of declining Pakistani workforce to the Gulf States is because of Gulfization (a policy shift to give employment to local workers of the region instead of allowing foreign workforce into their countries), especially in KSA & UAE.
