Pakistan embarrassed as official reveals 90% of beggars held in other countries are from its soil

The official from the ministry for overseas Pakistanis and human resource development also said that a large number of pickpockets from the country were targeting countries such as Japan.

• Shubham
• 28 September, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

PAKISTAN’ Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis was told on Wednesday (27) that a greater number of beggars from the south Asian nation was moving abroad, triggering the issue of “human trafficking”.

According to Dawn.com, Zulfikar Haider, secretary of the ministry for overseas Pakistanis and human resource development, made the revelation during a talk in the Senate panel on skilled and unskilled labour leaving the country’s shores.

He informed the committee that “90 per cent of beggars” arrested overseas were of Pakistani origin. He also said that many beggars were exploiting pilgrim visas to move to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.

It may be mentioned here that Saudi Arabia has raked up the issue with Pakistan, one of its allies, during a meeting of the two countries’ overseas ministry officials, asking the source country to be careful when it comes to selecting candidates on its Haj quota, CNN-News18 reported on Wednesday citing sources.

Haider also said that a large number of pickpockets caught in holy sites such as Haram were from Pakistan. He also said Japan had emerged as a new destination for such suspicious visitors.

During the discussion, Haider also expressed concerns over skills and trustworthiness of Pakistani workers in the eyes of employers abroad and acknowledged that other south Asian nations such as India and Bangladesh were ahead of Pakistan in this regard.