Photo credit: Human rights watch
A country’s failure to provide hope and opportunity has turned migration into a desperate escape, forcing people into perilous journeys only to face rejection, tragedy, or death.
DAWN reports that the sea became a graveyard on January 2, 2025, as a small boat carrying migrants capsized near Spain’s Canary Islands. 44 of the 50 passengers were Pakistanis. They were dreamers who sought refuge from despair but found only death in the cold unrelenting waters.
Their journey was a desperate gamble for a better life. It was a defiance against the hopelessness that had engulfed their homeland. It is a brutal indictment of a nation failing its people, where thousands are willing to risk everything.
Some survive these perilous journeys. But their ordeal is far from being over. deportations of Pakistani nationals are escalating at an alarming rate, with hundreds, even thousands, being forcibly sent back each month.
In January 2025, 220 Pakistani migrants were deported from countries like the US, China, Turkiye, Zimbabwe, and Senegal.
Twelve of them were arrested upon landing at Jinnah International Airport, facing humiliation and uncertainty upon their return. Recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia deported 47 Pakistanis for visa violations, overstaying and working without sponsors.
Thailand has also announced stricter measures against Pakistanis travelling on forged documents. The deportees are part of a larger exodus of Pakistanis who leave their country out of sheer desperation/ But they always find themselves rejected, detained, or worse.
Pakistanis are leaving because they see no other way since the country they once called home has become a prison of poverty, inflation, and instability. Migration is closely linked to rising unemployment. 4.5 million Pakistanis are out of work and youth aged 15-24 are facing the highest unemployment rate at 11.1 per cent.
Job opportunities are shrinking and many are seeing migration as their only escape. However, migration has growing risks and uncertainties..
