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dawn.com
ISLAMABAD
The number of Pakistani labourers recruited by Saudi Arabian employers dropped by 11 per cent to 460,000 in 2016 despite the fact that the kingdom has remained the busiest corridor for Pakistani migrants higher than in any year since 2005.
Nonetheless, in 2017, Bangladesh appears to have replaced Pakistan as the main source of labour force to Saudi Arabia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says in a new report, 'Labour Migration in Asia'. This downward trend is likely to continue since partial figures up to October 2017 indicate only 450,000 departures for overseas employment from Pakistan.
The increase in Bangladeshi workers going to Saudi Arabia can be attributed to the end of a six-year ban on recruitment, which was lifted in mid-2016.
The flow of Pakistani workers to the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, during 2015-2016 declined, by almost 50 per cent. In 2016, the flow of workers to Asean countries was only 10,743 which included 10,625 to Malaysia as against 20,369 Pakistani workers in 2015. Only 33 Pakistani workers went to Singapore and 85 to Brunei Darussalam.
The ADB report points out that policy changes in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have reinforced the downward trend. In total, about 5 million workers were deployed from the 12 main Asian countries of origin in 2016. This corresponds to an 8pc decrease compared to the previous year.
Looking at the main non-OECD destination countries in Asia, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries received 528,000 fewer Asian workers in 2016 than in 2015. Saudi Arabia, despite a 9pc drop in 2016, remains the top destination, with an inflow of more than 1m Asian foreign workers.
The drop observed in 2016 can be related to the country's economic situation, as well as to the ongoing"Saudization".
