ISLAMABAD: An international rights group says millions of girls in Pakistan are still out of school, mostly because the government spends less money on education.
Human Rights Watch says they are deprived of an education for multiple reasons, including a shortage of government schools.
The New York-based watchdog says the country — which has a population of about 207 million, including an estimated 80 million school-age children — has nearly 22.5 million children that are out of school. The majority of them are girls.
The 111-page report was released on Tuesday. It is entitled “Shall I Feed My Daughter, or Educate Her?: Barriers to Girls’ Education in Pakistan.”
In 2017, Pakistan spent less than 2.8 percent of its GDP on education — far below the recommended standards of 4 to 6 percent.
Watchdog: Millions of Pakistani girls deprived of education
Watchdog: Millions of Pakistani girls deprived of education
- Human Rights Watch says they are deprived of an education for multiple reasons, including a shortage of government schools
- The watchdog says the country has nearly 22.5 million children that are out of school. The majority of them are girls
Pakistan arrests suspect arriving from Cambodia amid crackdown on human smuggling
- Suspect worked at an “online fraud company” in Cambodia, later started smuggling people from Pakistan, says FIA
- Pakistan has intensified crackdown against human smugglers after hundreds of migrants drowned near Pylos in 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday said it had arrested a key suspect involved in smuggling humans who had arrived from Cambodia, alleging he was also part of an international fraud network.
The suspect, identified as Zainullah, was arrested by FIA officials when he arrived in the southern port city of Karachi from Cambodia.
Zainullah had traveled from Pakistan to Cambodia in September 2024, a press release issued by the agency said.
“He worked at an online fraud company in Cambodia and later became involved as an agent in recruiting individuals from Pakistan,” the FIA said.
The FIA said it recovered images of multiple individuals’ passports, payment receipts and bank transaction records after extracting data from Zainullah’s phone.
It said the suspect received money through personal bank accounts and a cryptocurrency account.
“The suspect has been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, for further legal proceedings,” the FIA said.
“Further investigation is underway.”
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the Greek town of Pylos, one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean.
Authorities say they continue to target networks sending citizens abroad through dangerous routes, following heightened scrutiny at airports and a series of arrests involving forged documents.
Pakistan’s interior ministry said this week illegal migration to Europe has declined by 47 percent this year after its nationwide crackdown, saying that more than 1,700 human smugglers have been arrested in 2025.
