L'émigration pakistanaise dans le Golfe et ses répercussions sur le pays d'origine

Abstract

Pakistani emigration since the early 1970s has been primarily directed toward the oil-rich Gulf states. Over 2 million Pakistanis, 10% of the adult male workforce, now live outside their home country, 3/4 of them in the Gulf states. The emigration has shortterm advantages for Pakistan, which has a high unemployment rate and few other exports. 2 government bureaus and over 300 recruiting agencies encourage Pakistani emigration to the Gulf, and because of the foreign exchange earnings generated, such emigration has become an important concern of the government. Emigration has a long history in Pakistan as part of the migratory movements of the Indian subcontinent in general. Emigration in the 1960s was prompted by mechanization of agriculture and disturbances of traditional agrarian labor arrangements brought on by the Green Revolution. Concentrations of lands among the successful middle-sized producers led to a rural proletariat and exodus towards the cities, where possibilities of employment were scarce. Regions of declining income around the new capital of Islamabad were the 1st to take advantage of new employment opportunities in the Gulf states. Pakistani migration to the Gulf countries is temporary for individual workers, who stay an average of 3-6 years, but the effect is of chain migration as returning workers are replaced by other family members. Workers are not accompanied by family members and have almost no contact with the local Arab populations. They send most of their earnings to their families in Pakistan. 3/4 are under 30 years old, most are of rural origin, and the majority are from the northern provinces. Although 70% are married, only 4% of migrants, the most highly qualified, are accompanied by their families. About 41% are unskilled workers and 42.6% are semiskilled or skilled manual workers. In 1981, the average annual salary repatriated by a Pakistani working in the Gulf was $3000. The Pakistani government has not defined a migration policy but has established rules and procedures to curtail clandestine departures. Most migrants use the services of licensed private employment agencies and very few use public channels. Because the migration is relatively new and few studies have been done, it is difficult to evaluate its effects on the local economy. 1 result is a severe local shortage of labor, especially in construction and transportation, which has promoted inflation and particularly affected the most impoverished classes. Remissions are now the most important source of Pakistan's foreign exchange earnings, but are not being invested in economic, industrial, or agricultural development, which has remained stagnant while 55% of the national budget is directed to defense. Most migrant earnings are invested in housing, marriages and dowries, and luxury imported consumer goods. In the current state of Pakistan's economy, migration is the sole means of socioeconomic advancement for the vast majority, but the future of the movement is uncertain.