Document Details

Migration is considered the road to prosperity by many Pakistanis. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, 4.2 million Pakistani workers have registered for overseas employment since 1971, travelling to more than 50 countries. There are a lot of migrants workers abroad who are undocumented. Many receiving countries have passed stringent laws and deport large numbers of undocumented Pakistanis each day for illegal border crossing and over staying visas. In addition, documented migrants who test positive for HIV in the semi-annual HIV testing conducted in many destination countries are deported, often without any information on the reason for this action. Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination countries for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Remittance sent by Pakistanis working abroad constitute the country’s largest single source of foreign exchange earnings, and are a major source of income to bridge huge trade deficits. For example, total migrant workers remittance was US$3.87 billion for the year 2003-2004,equivalent to 4.46 percent of Gross National Product (GNP). Migrant workers are among the groups considered vulnerable to HIV, as specified in the National HIV and AIDs strategic Framework (2001-2006). This article is also about pre-departure orientation, international convention that Pakistan has ratified and has not ratified, regional and bilateral Agreements, national policies and legislation and government agencies and networks.