ISLAMABAD: The prime minister’s special assistant on overseas Pakistanis, Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, is leaving for the UAE on Wednesday to discuss with Emirati officials the situation of Pakistani workers on the labor market as the Gulf state’s economy is emerging from a coronavirus standstill.
Thousands of Pakistani expats lost their jobs amid COVID-19 lockdowns and business closures in the Gulf state. During his first visit since the recent reopening of the UAE’s airspace, Bukhari is expected to meet with the Emirati labor minister to discuss the issue.
“UAE is one of the two largest labor markets for Pakistani workers. The meeting is expected to highlight issues faced by Pakistani labor generally and specially during COVID-19,” Bukhari’s office said in a statement.
He will also meet with members of the Pakistani diaspora, especially those whose philanthropic activity helped compatriots in the UAE stay afloat amid the health and economic crisis.
“The donors contributed thousands of dollars in cash and kind to help their countrymen in need,” the statement said, adding that Bukhari will express gratitude to them on behalf of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The UAE is home to 1.2 million Pakistanis and the second biggest host to overseas Pakistani workers and source of foreign remittances, after Saudi Arabia.
PM’s adviser on overseas Pakistanis on first visit to UAE since COVID-19 outbreak
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PM’s adviser on overseas Pakistanis on first visit to UAE since COVID-19 outbreak
- Bukhari is scheduled to meet with the UAE labor minister to discuss the situation of Pakistani workforce in the Gulf state
- UAE is the second biggest host to overseas Pakistani workers and source of foreign remittances, after Saudi Arabia
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.
