The government of Pakistan has launched a high-level consultation
process on international migration and development with an
Inter-Ministerial Preparatory Conference organized by IOM in
collaboration with the Ministry of Interior in Islamabad on
Wednesday.

The conference was designed to inform the government and
stakeholders ahead of the UN General Assembly High-Level Dialogue
on International Migration and Development on 14-15 September in
New York.

The Ministers for Interior, Finance, Education, Foreign Affairs,
Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis; the Governor of the State
Bank of Pakistan; the Chairman of the National Reconstruction
Bureau; Federal and Provincial Secretaries; the Heads of the
Federal Investigation Agency, Bureau of Emigration & Overseas
Employment, and Overseas Pakistanis Foundation; and other
stakeholders including representatives of civil society took part
in the dialogue.

The discussions stressed the need for greater emphasis on a
coherent and integrated national migration management policy to
maximise its potential contribution to development.

“Migration is a complex phenomenon which cannot be solved
in isolation,” said Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed
Khan Sherpao. “We hope the UN high-level dialogue will help
developing countries like Pakistan to formulate an effective
migration policy and to benefit more from their skilled
labour.”

The conference recommended improved cooperation between
government departments and with countries hosting Pakistani migrant
workers to manage remittances, which currently amount to some US$5
billion a year. The costs of migration also needed to be factored
into the equation. 

 “For countries of origin, migration benefits include
remittances, poverty reduction, improved foreign reserves, improved
balance of payments, knowledge and skills transfer and
modernization. But an over dependency on remittances and an outflow
of skilled manpower is not positive and that is why we need
comprehensive migration management,” said IOM Regional
Representative Hassan Abdel Moneim Mostafa.

Other issues discussed at the conference included
awareness-raising campaigns to better inform would be migrants,
improved data collection on migration trends and web-based labour
migration schemes to match up job seekers with potential
employers.

Delegates agreed that Pakistan needed better and more bilateral
arrangements with major destination countries to better manage
labour migration, the flow of remittances and migrants’
rights. Pakistani entrepreneurs abroad should also be encouraged to
invest more in the development of their home country.

For more information, please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel: +92.3008565967

E-mail: "mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int.