Speaking at a public event in Sialkot on April 19, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had pointed out that the problem has reached alarming levels, making it difficult for Pakistanis to get visas from other countries. (Representational Image: Reuters)
Pakistan‘s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, in the national assembly, announced that a total of 5,402 Pakistani citizens have been deported from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE since January 2024. The primary reason for deportation is begging. The data states 4,850 were deported from these countries in 2024 alone, while 552 returned to Pakistan this year.
After Saudi Arabia, Iraq sent back the second highest number of Pakistanis, which is 247 in total. The UAE, which raised serious concerns with the Pakistani government and tightened visa rules for Pakistanis, deported 58 people during this time.
In a major embarrassment for the country, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated that the problem has reached alarming levels, making it difficult for Pakistanis to get visas from other countries. He estimated that around 22 million people in Pakistan are involved in begging, generating about 42 billion annually. This figure highlights the scale of the issue.
Back in 2023, during a Senate committee meeting, the then Overseas Ministry Secretary, Zulfiqar Haider, revealed that the majority of beggars arrested abroad — around 90 percent — were Pakistani nationals. He said that many of them travel on pilgrimage visas to countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq, but then end up begging instead.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also taken a dig at Pakistan’s economic struggles during an event in Jammu and Kashmir. He mocked the country’s condition, saying it has become so dire that it is now commonly associated with begging. His remarks followed the release of a $1.023 billion aid package to Pakistan by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), after India launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation of the deadly Pahalgam attack.
When the official data came out, social media erupted with myriad of reactions. One of the users with the handle @bainjal commented, ““Pakistani beggars” the actual business model of the failed terror state. Munir begs from the IMF, Pakistanis beg across the world.”
Another user @ashokpan said, “Pak has finally made it official. It has disclosed in its National Assembly that more than 5,000 Pakistani beggars have been deported from various countries since 2024. It appears as if panhandling is quite a business in the neighbouring country.”
Mocking the sad state of affairs, a user wrote, “Pakistan has well funded #Terrorists Training camps and Madrasas to miseducate #students. There are no formal coaching centres for #Beggars though it is #World famous for its begging. One #Pakistani Lady #Doctor was married into a Rich ‘Beggar’ Family and had to join them…”