Pakistan-Belarus Job Scheme Descends into Migrant Crisis, Leaving Thousands Stranded
A landmark agreement promising 150,000 jobs for Pakistani workers in Belarus has rapidly deteriorated into a humanitarian crisis, with thousands attempting perilous journeys to Western Europe after finding no legitimate employment opportunities.
The situation underscores a critical failure in planning and oversight by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BE&OE), which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Minsk in April following a visit by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Despite the ambitious pledge to provide skilled labor in sectors like healthcare, IT, construction, and engineering, the initiative remains entirely unimplemented more than two months later.
Unfulfilled Promises Fuel Desperate Measures
Details reveal a growing wave of Pakistani nationals using Belarus as a transit point to illegally enter Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. This surge in irregular migration follows the realization that the promised jobs simply do not exist. “There are no official channels or guidelines for sending workers to Belarus. Nothing has materialized since the agreement was signed,” confirmed a senior BE&OE officer, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter. “In the absence of any structured migration pathway, desperate individuals are turning to illegal routes.”
The initial agreement cited a minimum wage of $1,100, a figure that appears increasingly unrealistic given Belarus’s average monthly salary of between $670 and $700. Upon arrival, migrants are facing economic hardship, rising inflation, and significant language barriers, quickly discovering they have been misled.
Lack of Preparation and Oversight
Critically, the BE&OE has not developed any framework to assess the viability of deploying such a large workforce. No feasibility study has been conducted, no licensed overseas employment promoters have been engaged, and, crucially, no public safety advisory has been issued by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development for those intending to work abroad.
Belarus’s relatively relaxed visa rules for Pakistani nationals have inadvertently facilitated the crisis, turning the country into a magnet for those seeking opportunities that do not exist. Resultantly, many are attempting dangerous border crossings into neighboring EU nations, often with the ultimate goal of reaching Germany.
Calls for Urgent Action
Migration experts and policy analysts, including those from the Centre for Migration Research Pakistan (CMRP), are urgently calling on the Pakistani government to intervene. Recommendations include launching public awareness campaigns to highlight the risks of irregular migration, engaging with European Union authorities to ensure the humane treatment of detained migrants, and rigorously enforcing the Emigration Ordinance, 1979, against unlicensed recruiting agents.
There is also a growing demand for Pakistan’s diplomatic missions abroad to provide emergency assistance, including temporary shelter, legal aid, and repatriation services. A chart detailing the number of Pakistani migrants attempting to cross EU borders via Belarus would be beneficial here.
Unless swift and decisive action is taken on both diplomatic and domestic fronts, the situation threatens to escalate into a larger humanitarian disaster, leaving thousands trapped between unfulfilled promises and increasingly fortified borders.
