The world is shocked by the inflow of beggars from Pakistan into its cities. This week, Saudi Arabia requested Pakistan to cease beggars from misusing Umrah visas and reaching the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to beg. This pattern of beggars abusing visas to beg in international nations is worrying Pakistan and its real Pakistani visa candidates.
That concern shouldn’t be unfounded. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Non secular Affairs has warned that if the state of affairs shouldn’t be introduced beneath management, it might adversely have an effect on Pakistani Umrah and Hajj pilgrims, Pakistan’s Categorical Tribune reported on Tuesday.
That the streets of Saudi Arabia are filled with Pakistani beggars is seen to the entire world.
“I simply got here again from Ummrah and I guarantee you that I’m ashamed to be Pakistani. They beg at Bin Dawood store, they beg throughout Ummrah, they beg on the streets,” Usman, a resident of Islamabad, mentioned on September 25 in a put up on X.
The attention-grabbing factor about these beggars is that they’re actual professionals who apply for visas and take flights to locations outdoors Pakistan.
In an opinion piece printed in Pakistani each day Daybreak, authorized knowledgeable Rafia Zakaria writes that Pakistanis have seen their countrymen “organising retailers outdoors the holy websites of Mecca and Medina, the place they harass international pilgrims for cash.”
She calls panhandlers “grasp manipulators who know learn how to exploit their victims’ guilt and get them to half with their cash.”
It’s not simply Saudi Arabia, Pakistani beggars are present in a number of Center Japanese nations, together with the United Arab Emirates.
Final September, Pakistan’s Abroad Secretary Zeeshan Khanzada mentioned that 90% of all beggars These arrested in West Asian nations got here from Pakistan.
“We’ve got been instructed by the ambassadors of Iraq and Saudi Arabia that Pakistani beggars journey overseas beneath the guise of ziarat (pilgrimage) with Umrah visas after which have interaction in begging on the streets,” Khanzada was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s Geo Information Urdu in September final yr.
MAMFIANA NETWORK BEHIND THE EXPORT OF BEGGARS
Pakistani Inside Minister Mohsin Naqvi revealed that this was not the work of people however of a well-oiled machine.
Naqvi, in a gathering with Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Mentioned Ahmed Al-Malki, mentioned strict motion can be taken towards the mafia chargeable for sending beggars to Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan has tasked the Federal Investigation Company (FIA) with cracking down on this community that sends beggars overseas.
An FIA official instructed Daybreak that immigration officers at Pakistan’s worldwide airports are particularly cautious about passengers who continuously journey to the Center East for brief intervals.
“In case of suspicion, passengers are disembarked from the plane,” the FIA official defined.
The FIA offloaded 11 suspected beggars from a Saudi-bound flight at Karachi airport a month in the past.
VISA DENIALS DUE TO PAKISTANI BEGGARS
Beggars will not be only a drawback for pilgrims in Saudi Arabia or folks from different Center Japanese nations, at the moment are a giant headache for Pakistanis as properly.
This comes amid an financial disaster in Pakistan and a report variety of folks in search of authorized employment overseas.
“Professional travellers, college students and employees making use of for correct visas need to endure further scrutiny at international embassies and frequent denial of visas,” writes Rafia Zakaria in Daybreak.
Zakaria says thousands and thousands of Pakistanis who would by no means consider begging overseas are caught at residence with their inexperienced passports due to some miscreants.
Nobody is aware of whether or not real Pakistanis are and can face additional issues with visa approvals.
Additionally, as a result of Pakistan desires nations within the Center East and the Gulf. to tighten visa controls to cease the importation of Pakistani beggars.
“These nations also needs to evaluation their visa processing system as a substitute of merely placing stress on Pakistani authorities to arrest potential beggars, criminals and unlawful immigrants,” a senior FIA official instructed Daybreak.
In July, Geo Information additionally reported that employers in Gulf nations now desire to rent employees from different nations within the area, akin to Bangladesh, reasonably than Pakistan. That is because of the “pitiful stage of the Pakistani workforce.”
The general picture of Pakistanis overseas shouldn’t be encouraging for these in search of work in Pakistan. And their export of beggars shouldn’t be solely disconcerting nations like Saudi Arabia, however can also be affecting Pakistanis in search of authorized alternatives overseas as they face rising scrutiny and rejections for visas.
