Islamabad: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, chaired by Syed Rafiullah, on Tuesday reviewed overseas employment trends, welfare challenges faced by Pakistani workers abroad, and the performance of Community Welfare Attach©s (CWAs) posted in key destination countries.
The meeting was held in the Constitution Room, Parliament House, and focused on improving facilitation, awareness, legal compliance, and institutional coordination to better protect overseas Pakistanis. Members of the Pakistan-EU Federation attended the meeting as special invitees, including its Chairman Dr. Parvaiz Iqbal Lohsar.
The Committee received detailed briefings from CWAs posted in the Gulf region, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia. While discussing Kuwait, officials informed members that employment opportunities had improved following the resolution of visa-related issues through engagement with Kuwaiti authorities. A technical delegation helped address outstanding matters, enabling Pakistan to secure a significant share of new employment openings. However, members expressed concern over recurring issues and stressed the need to improve Pakistan's overall compliance record and international perception.
The Committee also discussed cases involving fraudulent companies and deportations, emphasizing the importance of stronger regulation and enhanced awareness among overseas workers. Members underlined that Pakistanis travelling abroad must be fully informed about host-country laws, visa conditions, and the consequences of violations, including drug-related and financial crimes.
Briefings from Saudi Arabia (Jeddah and Riyadh) highlighted the presence of millions of Pakistanis in the Kingdom. CWAs detailed extensive welfare activities, including labour dispute resolution, recovery of end-of-service benefits, facilitation of diyat cases, repatriation of stranded or deceased workers, and coordination with employers and local authorities. The Committee noted challenges related to succession certificates, iqama issues, education facilities, and increasing competition from other labour-sending countries under Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.
Members sought clarity on labour market analysis, job targeting, and employer engagement under major development initiatives. The Ministry informed the Committee that reporting systems are being digitised to enable real-time analysis, while employment targets would be revised accordingly. Progress on manpower export agreements, human resource expos, and business-to-business engagement was also shared.
The Committee further reviewed briefings from the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai), where CWAs highlighted welfare cases involving repatriation of deceased persons, prisoners' issues, child-related matters, and labour complaints. Concerns were raised regarding misuse of visit visas, jurisdictional complications in white-collar crimes, and the absence of a government-to-government labour agreement with the UAE. The issue of Korea welders' recruitment was also discussed, with the Ministry assuring that a report on pending complaints would be submitted shortly.
The Committee made several recommendations, including launching structured awareness programmes for overseas workers, clarifying the legal basis for CWA extensions, ensuring transparency in CWA-related expenditures, resolving pending public petitions, and submitting detailed reports on visit-to-work visa issues and jurisdictional challenges abroad.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Dr. Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto, Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti, Mian Khan Bugti (virtually), Erum Hamid, Mah Jabeen Khan Abbasi, and Saeeda Jamshid, along with Zulfiqar Ali Behan, Farhan Chishti, and Sofia Saeed (virtually). The Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development and senior officials of the Ministry were also present.