Recruitment of Pakistani Workers: Mechanisms and Vulnerabilities

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1 Recruitment of Pakistani Workers: Mechanisms and Vulnerabilities G.M.Arif Dean Faculty of Development Studies Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Islamabad

2 Number of Overseas Pakistanis in Different Regions of the World, June 2004(Million) Number (Million) Middle East Europe North America Other Countries Region

3 Annual Placement of Pakistani Workers mainly to the Middle East

4 Annual Placement of Workers to Saudi Arabia and UAE S/Arabia UAE

5 Recruitment Mechanisms in Pakistan Institutional Arrangements In the 1970s, the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BE&OE) was setup to boost labour emigration, and also to regulate and control the recruitment process in the country BE&OE functions through its seven regional offices, called Protector of Emigrants, located in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Malakand and Multan

6 Channels of Labour Recruitment Legally, Pakistanis can find overseas employment through public, private and direct channels or sectors. Public Sector:Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) Private Sector: Overseas Employment Promotors (OEPs) Direct Visa

7 No. of Pakistanis Proceeded abroad Employment Registered by BE&OE during Years % of workers processed by OEPs

8 Recruitment Through Overseas Employment Promoters An OEP applies to the concerned Protector of Emigrants for permission to process the demand OEP is required to advertise the demand specifying the number of persons, categories, wages and other terms and conditions Prepares a FSA on behalf of the employer and approach the Protector of Emigrants for registration Briefing by the protector of emigrants

9 Recruitment through OEPs OEPs work through sub-agents when recruiting from rural areas, particularly semi-skilled or skilled workers Many friends/relatives with migration experience also play the role of a sub-agent in the migration process Prospective migrants, prefer their mediation through local agents because of close contacts One agent (sub-agent) who keeps the passport for long period.

10 Is Recruitment Procedure Followed? Contract signing before migration is not common Appearance before the protector of emigrants is very low Small percentage (17%) of migrants attended the premigration briefing at the PROTECTOR office

11 Illegal Migration Overstaying after Hajj/Umra or after the expiry of contract Local agents organize a group of prospective migrants to take the risk of crossing border without documents by using sea and dry routes (Irani Border) High Cost of legal Migration as the main reason for illegal migration

12 Working Conditions Abroad Re-signing of Contract While Abroad Migrants are usually unaware about the contract they are signing In the new contract salary is usually 8-10 percent low Medical test upon arrival at destination and re-assessment of skill level are also getting common

13 Vulnerabilities Vulnerable Group: rural migrants, illiterates, and unskilled workers High cost of migration Lack of awareness about the contract Deceived by OEPs (sub-agents) and local agents Non-payment of full salaries during first 3 months while abroad Kafeel system

14 Recommendations made by Return Migrants Migration cost may be controlled Role of both subagents and foreign recruiters in labour recruitment may be regularised Pakistani embassies in the Middle East may be made more active

15 What Needs to be done? 1. Information and facilities for overseas employment may be introduced in poor regions of the country. 2. Recruiting system should be made more transparent, easy to follow and understandable in terms of working conditions abroad. 3. Re-signing of contract while abroad appears to be exploitative, it may be stopped. Exploitation linked with the kafeel system may also be checked. 4. Working conditions abroad are not satisfactory. Both labour sending and labour receiving countries must agree on a system of core values, standards and outcomes to be attained through labour migration.