EU to make legal migration for Pakistanis easier

Brussels: The European Union plans to make legal migration to EU countries from Pakistan and other countries easier to discourage illegal immigration.

EU officials said the proposals were at the initial stages but carried weight.

“The illegal immigration is definitely a real issue. Facilitation of the legal migration process is an option. I don’t know if we have a good news for the Pakistanis yet but the process can be expected,” said one official.

Another official said the legal migration should be made more attractive and easier.

The sinking of a boat carrying migrants to Europe recently – resulting in the deaths of dozens of people, including many from Pakistan – has sparked a debate in the South Asian country about the dire economic situation that is forcing many young people to embark on such perilous journeys in search of better conditions abroad.

The boat crashed on rocks and broke up in heavy seas near the town of Steccato di Cutro in southern Italy, killing at least 64 people, including about 14 children.

There were 80 survivors, who said that the boat had been carrying about 180 to 200 people.

Italy has arrested three men, a Turkish man and two Pakistani nationals, in connection with the incident.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry said 20 citizens had been on the boat and 16 of them had survived but four were missing.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered authorities to ascertain the facts, and the Federal Investigation Agency has launched a probe into human trafficking.

Many Pakistanis and experts say the nation’s crippling economic crisis is a major reason why many people are looking to migrate abroad, even through risky and illegal means.

Pakistan’s economy has been in turmoil in recent years, and desperately needs external financing, with its foreign exchange reserves dipping to about $3 billion.

The catastrophic floods in 2022 aggravated the crisis by inflicting more than $30 billion in damages and economic losses, and displacing millions of people.

Food prices have soared, and the number of people facing food insecurity has doubled to 14.6 million, according to UN figures.

The World Bank estimated that up to 9 million more people could be dragged into poverty as a result of the flooding.

Over one-fifth of Pakistan’s 220 million people already live below the national poverty line, according to the Asian Development Bank and IMF.

Currently, inflation is running at nearly 30%, the wealth gap is enormous, and tax avoidance by the rich is rampant.

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.

UNDESA estimates the number and composition of migrants on the basis of data obtained from population censuses, population registers and national surveys.