Pakistanis have a bad international reputation. The scale of this problem is not restricted to labour working overseas but also to blue-collar workers. More recently, the presence of beggars from Pakistan globally was an issue that grabbed media attention. But perhaps for the first time, reports indicate that Pakistanis living in the Middle East have been warned to be careful while commenting on politics in Pakistan.
This became evident when the Consul General of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Karachi, Bakheet Ateeq al-Remeithi, asked Pakistanis residing in the UAE to avoid spreading negative propaganda against their country, its institutions or politicians. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where a majority of Pakistanis are living, have sent out strong signals that such negative propaganda is unwarranted and could lead to a cancellation of visas.
The expression of discontent on social media by non-resident Pakistanis in the UAE reflects the fallout of the ongoing intense political battle between the PTI and other parties, including the PML-N, over governance. Additionally, with plans afoot to ban Imran Khan’s PTI as a political party, overseas Pakistani citizens have expressed their perspectives on social media. In the normal course, the remarks of the Consul General could have been ignored but the advice of Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson (1 August 2024) to its nationals living overseas, especially in the Middle East, to abide by the laws and respect the customs of the countries they were residing is a wake-up call to overseas Pakistanis.
The media briefing by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed a Senate Standing Committee hearing that discussed concerns expressed by Gulf countries about the behaviour of Pakistani citizens in their countries and their lacklustre performance standards. This damning indictment became public when the UAE Consul General said ‘negative propaganda’ against the Pakistan Government by Pakistanis living or visiting the UAE was noticed on social media.
He said five Pakistani nationals had been arrested and sentenced to 14 to 15 years in jail, while several others had been deported. He said citizens involved in such propaganda were being questioned for obtaining an Emirates visa. He also refuted the news that the UAE had banned visas for Pakistani saying, “Not only visas are being given to Pakistanis, all possible facilities are being provided in the Consulate.” He did, however, add that rules for obtaining a UAE visa had been tightened.
The UAE Consul General in Karachi reportedly warned Pakistanis that they would not get visas for Gulf countries, including the UAE, adding that “They should avoid sharing or forwarding any such matter on social media.” Bakheet Ateeq al-Remeithi said 1.8 million Pakistanis lived in the UAE and that they were amongst the citizens of some 200 countries living in the UAE in peace and who followed different faiths. Al-Remeithi appealed to Pakistanis not to bring their political differences to Dubai.
Recently, a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development occurred. Amongst the issues discussed was the poor performance standards of Pakistani workers living abroad. The Standing Committee was informed by Dr Arshad Mahmood, Secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, that 50% of the crime rate in the UAE is attributed to Pakistanis.
The Dawn newspaper quoted the Secretary as saying there was a declining trend in overseas employment for the Pakistani labour force, with a significant portion of the Pakistani labour force remaining unskilled. The Senate Committee meeting, which Senator Zeeshan Khanzada chaired, stressed that the government was ignoring the available potential in this sector. Even more damning is the information given to the Committee that UAE authorities had expressed concern over the inappropriate behaviour of some Pakistanis, which included making videos of women in Dubai without their consent.
The Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch subsequently reiterated the government’s request to “…..Pakistani nationals, wherever they are, to respect the local laws and the local customs so that the life of all Pakistanis in those countries remain normal and these individuals continue to enjoy their stay in these countries.” The Foreign Office Spokesperson made these remarks told reporters during a news briefing. The Senate Standing Committee discussion occurred because a stream of reports had been noticed in several Gulf countries of the behaviour of Pakistani citizens, and in June, the UAE denied reports that they had issued a visa ban on Pakistanis. As 50% of overseas Pakistanis live in the Middle East (out of 10 million) and the UAE and Saudi Arabia are the preferred destinations for Pakistani labourers, both Gulf countries have privately and publicly expressed their displeasure over the attitude and behaviour of Pakistani nationals viewing the political views on social media, especially targeting the Pakistani government. Significantly, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the first and second largest sources of remittances to Pakistan, respectively.
During the media interaction, Baloch claimed that the majority of overseas Pakistanis had been respecting the laws of their host countries, but a few stray individuals had violated the atmosphere. If that were the case, the UAE Consul General in Karachi would not have his statement in the first place! Adding that all Pakistani citizens were continuously told to follow the laws of the host country, Baloch said all the countries in the Middle East had their own laws with respect to individuals who were foreign expatriates and their participation in political activities. In February 2024, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry refused to change a previous decision that prohibited the entry of citizens from eight countries into Kuwait, including from Pakistan. The other countries are Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Sudan.
Overseas Pakistanis are in the news today, but as seen, there is a past to this sad story. The involvement of overseas Pakistanis in crimes and inappropriate behaviour is akin to the activities of Pakistani terrorists who operate internationally.
The threat to societies in the Middle East comes from Pakistani nationals who reside in the host country but do not abide by the laws of the land they live in. This is symptomatic of the chaos afflicting Pakistan today, a nation clearly on a downward spiral. When foreign diplomatic officials start commenting on the behaviour of Pakistani nationals, clearly, there must be something amiss.
